Alfonza Smalls was born on August 18, 1978, in Florida. At the age of 14, he became involved with 18-year-old Richard Henyard. Smalls' background prior to the crime is not extensively documented, but his association with Henyard led to his participation in a heinous crime that shocked the community

On the evening of January 30, 1993, Dorothy Lewis and her daughters, Jamilya (7) and Jasmine (3), were abducted from a Winn-Dixie parking lot in Eustis, Florida, by Richard Henyard and Alfonza Smalls. Smalls approached Lewis, displayed a firearm, and forced her and her children into their vehicle. Henyard drove the car out of town under Smalls' direction. During the drive, Smalls demanded that Lewis silence her crying daughters. When Lewis began praying aloud, Henyard mocked her, stating, "This ain't Jesus, this is Satan."

They stopped at a secluded location where Henyard and Smalls took turns raping Lewis on the trunk of the car. Afterward, Henyard shot Lewis four times, including in the leg, neck, mouth, and forehead, and left her for dead. Miraculously, she survived and managed to seek help from a nearby residence.

Henyard and Smalls then drove the children to another location, where they were each shot in the head and their bodies discarded in nearby brush. The following day, Henyard approached the police, initially claiming to have information about the crime. Upon noticing blood on his socks, officers questioned him further, leading to his confession. Smalls was subsequently arrested, and the murder weapon was recovered from his residence.

In 1994, Smalls was convicted of multiple charges, including two counts of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, sexual battery, armed kidnapping, and armed robbery. Due to his age at the time of the crime, he was sentenced to life imprisonment. In 2019, following a Supreme Court ruling that mandatory life sentences for juveniles are unconstitutional, Smalls was granted a resentencing hearing.