NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — After a night out with friends, a popular makeup artist was found dead in the middle of a street in East Nashville, and now more than 10 years later the circumstances surrounding her death remain a mystery.
Metro Police said on Feb. 19, 2013, 32-year-old Livia Smith went out barhopping with friends in the 5 Points Area of East Nashville. After hanging out at 3 Crow Bar, she decided it was time to go home, and her friends helped her into a taxi van parked outside the bar. She left on a less than 10 minute drive to her home on Barclay Drive.
About two hours later in the early morning hours of Feb. 20, Smith's lifeless body was found lying in the middle of Barclay Drive. She was less than a block from her home.
"Based on her injuries and some other evidence at the scene, it appears she stepped out of a moving vehicle," Matthew Filter, a detective in the Metro Nashville Police Department's Cold Case-Homicide/Missing Persons unit, said.
Filter said Smith's cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head, but investigators were never able to determine what type of cab she got into, who was driving it, or what transpired that ended in her death.
Witnesses described the cab as yellow or green and the driver as a middle aged, Middle Eastern man. Filter said despite a thorough investigation of Nashville cab companies, they weren't able to confirm what company or driver had a cab at the bar. Filter said at the time, many cabs didn't report when they picked up passengers.
Surveillance video in the area didn't provide any clues, and witnesses were slow to come forward with any additional details.
"We keep on trying even 10 years later on this case," Filter said. "We are still looking at it. We are still trying to figure out what else we can do with the evidence we have."
Smith's brother, Ian Struthers, was critical of how Metro Police handled the investigation from the beginning.
"It's infuriating," Struthers said. "Now I’m more angry than anything. We’ve grieved her loss, but where’s the justice? There isn’t any."
Struthers said his sister grew up in Northampton, Massachusetts, but moved to Nashville in 2008. She had bought a house, and built a thriving career as a makeup artist. He described her as sweet, glamorous and generous.
"It's really sad that she went out in her prime," Struthers said. "The way the city has evolved, she would have been really successful."
Struthers said waiting on a break in the case has been tough on his family. He initially put up $10,000 for a reward but it didn't generate any new viable leads for detectives.
"My mom is 76 years old and I would love to see this get solved the sooner the better so she has answers and closure," Struthers said.
Struthers said the tragedy is a reminder for people to take additional steps to keep friends safe. He recommended before putting a friend in cab to get a good look at the driver, the license plate, and ask them to text you when they arrive at their destination. He also said he would like to see more surveillance cameras outside of bars.
In 2013, there was no requirement for Nashville taxis to use a GPS system. After Smith's death, a group petitioned the Metro Transportation Licensing Commission to ask that all cabs be required to carry a working GPS. The rule was approved later in 2013.
Metro Police and Struthers still encourage anyone with information on the night Smith died to come forward, and believe that may provide a break in the case.
"What is the worst that could happen if you come forward?" Struthers said. "If you weren’t involved but are privy to information that could lead to this being solved, it could help."
"It's very possible someone out there didn’t witness it, but maybe they heard the person talking about it," Filter said.
Anyone with information on what happened to Livia Smith is asked to contact the Metro Police Department Cold Case Unit at 615-862-7329, or Crime Stoppers at 615-742-7463. Callers to Crime Stoppers can remain anonymous.
