By Amanda Milkovits
PROVIDENCE -- The 20-year-old man who was shot to death at close range in South Providence Wednesday evening had been both a victim and a suspect during his short life.
Wesley A. Smith had been shot, stabbed at least twice, and arrested several times, including last December when he and a brother were accused of robbing a teen at gunpoint of his Nike sneakers.
Smith was involved with a local gang, but police weren't able to say Thursday whether that led to his death.
The Institute for the Study and Practice of Nonviolence had reached out to him, but Smith kept his distance, said executive director Teny Gross.
"You can say he lived a reckless life," Gross said. "In this environment, a reckless life can lead to death."