The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) named a 40-year-old Dallas man as September’s Featured Fugitive.
Cecil Colby Smith is on the DPS’ Texas 10 Most Wanted Sex Offender list. He has been on the run since August 2021 after Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office issued a warrant for the suspect’s arrest over a child abuse by injury case.
Smith is wanted for failure to register as a sex offender who committed child abuse by injury, according to his wanted bulletin. His criminal history includes murder, aggravated sexual assault of a child, sexual assault of a child, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, violation of a protective order/assault/stalking, deadly conduct, failure to identify, theft of property, and criminal mischief.
Smith was convicted of violating a protective order/assault/stalking in 2002 and was sentenced to four years of probation. In 2003 he was found guilty on two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child and sexual assault of a child for incidents with a 13-year-old girl.
For these offenses, Smith received three five-year sentences in a Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison.
The wanted fugitive was again convicted in 2011 on murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charges and received two 8-year sentences. He was, however, released in 2017.
On August 24, 2021, Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office issued a warrant for arrest over the child abuse by injury case. He is wanted in Dallas County also over an outstanding warrant from December 9, 2021, for failure to register as a sex offender.
Smith is 6 feet tall and weighs around 185 pounds. He has tattoos on his left cheek, neck, chest, both wrists and arms, and left hand. He also has scars on both his eyes and back.
Authorities said Smith should be considered armed and dangerous. He also has ties to Longview and Amarillo, in addition to his connections with the state of Oklahoma.
The reward for any tip that leads to the fugitive’s capture was raised to $4,000 in September.
Anyone with information that might lead to the capture of the fugitive is urged to call the Texas Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-252-TIPS (8477). They can also submit tips through Facebook and the DPS website and click on Smith or any other fugitive they wish to report.
Authorities said all tips would be kept anonymous regardless of the channel by which they were submitted, with tipsters provided tip numbers instead of using their names.