BOSTON, April 29, 2012—Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley today announced indictments charging one man with murder for 2008 shooting death of Rebecca Payne on Mission Hill almost four years ago and another with perjuring himself in connection with the case.

The indictments, returned Friday, charge CORNELL SMITH (D.O.B. 12/19/81), formerly of Boston, with first-degree murder for Payne’s May 20, 2008, slaying inside her Parker Hill Avenue apartment. He is also charged with armed assault in a dwelling and unlawful possession of a firearm.

The indictments also charge MICHAEL BALBA (D.O.B. 3/1/57) of Billerica with four counts of perjury for allegedly lying to the Suffolk County Grand Jury during the lengthy investigation into Payne’s homicide. Boston Police homicide detectives arrested Balba yesterday and he is expected to be arraigned tomorrow in Suffolk Superior Court.

Payne, a Northeastern University student from New Milford, Connecticut, was discovered in her Parker Hill Avenue apartment on the morning of May 20, 2008. She had been shot multiple times. Numerous area residents had heard gunfire several hours earlier but none had called 911. Conley did not disclose further details or an alleged motive for Payne’s killing but said she did not know Smith and did nothing to bring about her own death.

“She was, in every sense, an innocent victim,” Conley said.

Conley thanked Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis, the Boston Police Homicide Unit and in particular the squad led by Sgt. Det. Paul McLaughlin, and Assistant District Attorney Ian Polumbaum, who was assigned to the case on the day of Payne’s homicide and led the painstaking grand jury investigation leading to these indictments.

“They pursued every lead they developed,” Conley said. “Not a day went by that they didn’t think, act, or pick up the phone on this case. I hope Rebecca’s family, her friends, and the Northeastern Community find some comfort knowing that we were always committed to reaching this point.”

Smith is currently serving a 12-year federal prison sentence out of state for an unrelated drug conviction. No date has been set for his return to Boston to face the new charges.

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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.