“After much consultation and prayer, I have decided to resign as mayor of Uvalde to focus on my health,” he said in a statement Monday.
During Mayor Smith's term, the city announced that an independent investigator commissioned by the city attorney will defend the actions of local police officers on the day a gunman killed 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in May 2022. A report was published. The Texas House of Representatives and the Department of Justice previously accused law enforcement of failing to respond quickly to the shooting.
After the report was released in March, several city council members and the victim's parents denounced the report's findings at an emotional City Council meeting, The Texas Tribune reported. That includes Kimberly Mata Rubio, the mother of the 10-year-old girl killed in the shooting, who ran against Smith for mayor in November.
The Uvalde City Council will call a special meeting Tuesday to discuss the shooting at Robb Elementary School, according to the city's agenda. Smith's resignation comes just before city Police Chief Daniel Rodriguez is scheduled to resign on April 6. Although he was not present at the shooting, Rodriguez announced plans to retire in March, shortly after the city's report was first released.
Smith served two terms as mayor of Uvalde from 2008 to 2012, after Don McLaughlin, the mayor at the time of the Robb Elementary School shooting, resigned to run for the Texas House of Representatives. He was re-elected last year.
Smith named Uvalde City Councilman Everardo Zamora as interim mayor until a new mayor is elected in November.
