Murder Charges Filed Against Former Raiders Defensive End

LANCASTER (CBS) —  Former Oakland Raiders defensive end Anthony Wayne Smith was formally charged Friday in the 2008 slaying of a man in Lancaster.

Smith, 43, of Fontana, was scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon in Lancaster Superior Court in connection with the Oct. 7, 2008, slaying of Maurillio Ponce.

The 31-year-old victim was beaten and shot several times before his body was dumped near poppy fields in the Antelope Valley, according to Deputy District Attorney Michael Blake.

Also charged in Ponce's slaying are Charles Eric Honest, 41, of Los Angeles, and Dewann Wesley White, 32, of Bloomington.

Smith was the top pick of the Raiders in 1990 out of the University of Arizona, and played professional football with the Los Angeles and Oakland Raiders between 1991 and 1997.

He was living in Marina del Rey when Ponce was killed, according to the District Attorney's Office.

Smith had a previous run in with the law. He was charged with the February 2003 firebombing of Simply Sofas in Santa Monica over an alleged dispute. But a judge dismissed the case against him in December 2004 after two juries deadlocked -- the second 11-1 in favor of acquittal.

(©2011 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)