Kelli K. Smith is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame, where she majored in political science and film with a minor in journalism. An El Paso native, she now works as a public safety reporter with The Dallas Morning News.
Her work has ranged from breaking to enterprise to investigative. She brought to light a series of evidence storage issues at the Dallas Police Department in 2023 after she revealed that police improperly stored more than 52,000 digital files in possible violation of evidence laws. She later reported that at least 16 homicide cases were jeopardized after police deleted evidence, and hundreds more were being audited.
Smith’s reporting has propelled agencies to reopen internal investigations, change their evidence storage settings, implement compliance teams and begin to report use-of-force data to the FBI. Attorneys filed motions based on revelations in the evidence loss series. She was first to spotlight Dallas quietly redacting online police report data; four officers caught on video laughing at a disabled veteran denied restroom access; and the unnoticed death of a man in police custody during a mental health crisis, later ruled a homicide.
Smith was previously a fellow with The Chicago Tribune, where she served as primary voting reporter for the 2020 election while covering breaking news during the COVID-19 pandemic. She detailed unprecedented surges in crime on Cook County’s expressways and public transportation through comprehensive data analyses.
While at school, Smith served as Editor-in-Chief of The Observer, the independent newspaper covering Notre Dame, Saint Mary’s College and Holy Cross College. She led more than 150 students in daily coverage and spearheaded a social media department, a diversity and inclusion director, an investigative unit, audio and videography teams.
Awards include Dallas Morning News team effort of the year for her work memorializing Uvalde shooting victims, the Paul Neville award for overall excellence in journalism and four first-place Indiana Collegiate Press Association awards. She produced documentary films selected in the International Social Change Film Festival and the 2019 and 2020 Notre Dame student film festivals. She was also a finalist in the 2019 Indiana Keating Competition.
When she’s not working on stories while consuming endless amounts of coffee, Smith can be found with her nose buried in a good memoir.