Xavier Bass Obituary, Death; – A Lincoln inmate, believed to be responsible for the murder of 21-year-old Xavier Bass in 2017, received his sentence on Friday.
Wilbert Smith, aged 33, was sentenced to life imprisonment for first-degree murder. Prior to this, Smith had been serving time in Lincoln for an unrelated drug offense before being transferred to Douglas County Corrections in June 2024.
Additional charges against Smith, including the use of a firearm to commit a felony, first-degree felony assault, and discharging a firearm at a vehicle, were dismissed. In May 2024, he was identified as the suspect in the murder of Bass.
Bass was fatally shot while driving southbound on Highway 75 near the Hamilton Street exit in Omaha on the afternoon of November 5, 2017, and succumbed to his injuries at the hospital. Another individual was present in the vehicle with him; they sustained life-threatening injuries but ultimately survived.
