Daniel Wayne Smith

Wecht later told the press that he had not been paid. He told the Bahamas Journal that he had originally been contacted by Michael Scott, and was ostensibly working with him and Tracey Ferguson (of Callenders and Co.). Scott and Ferguson dropped out of the picture, and attorney Wayne Munroe took over Ms. Smith’s representation. "I believe, quite frankly, that there has been some breakdown in communication, and quite possibly some antagonism. Scott and Ferguson were representing real estate developer G. Ben Thompson in an action against Anna Nicole Smith over her house in the Bahamas.

Dr. Cyril Wecht was hired by Callenders and Co., a Bahamian law firm, to do an independent autopsy. Wecht stated Daniel Smith died as a result of the interaction of methadone, an analgesic, and the antidepressants Zoloft and Lexapro. The metabolism and the breakdown of the methadone is delayed in the presence of Zoloft, according to Wecht. Methadone can alter the cardiac rhythm – it’s referred to as a prolongation of the QT interval. "When that is prolonged, the individual could even lose consciousness, and suffer cardiac dysrhythmia. And that is something that can happen from methadone alone, and in the presence of Zoloft and Lexapro, it is more likely to happen," "I don’t mean frequently, and certainly not predictably, so tragically, with this young man this is what happened. So I have no question at all as to the cause of death."

In March 2008, Bahamas jury determined that Anna Nicole Smith's son died from an accidental drug overdose and recommended no criminal charges.

On February 8, 2007, Wecht said on Fox News that there was still no information available as to how Daniel obtained methadone. Although methadone is prescribed in place of other opioids for pain relief and is used in the treatment of heroin and morphine addiction, Wecht had said he had no information to make any conclusion about why Daniel was using it. On February 14, it was reported that his mother Anna Nicole Smith had been given a prescription for methadone under a false name while she was in her eighth month of pregnancy. Ford Shelley claimed that methadone was found in Anna's bedroom refrigerator while her Bahamas mansion was being reclaimed by his father-in-law, real estate developer G. Ben Thompson.

Anna Nicole Smith died suddenly on February 8, 2007, less than five months after her son's death. A Florida circuit court judge, Larry Seidlin, who oversaw the disposition of Smith's body, ordered Anna Nicole Smith's will produced. It was released on February 16, 2007. The "Will of Vickie Lynn Marshall" was signed on July 30, 2001 and declares:

Smith died in his mother's hospital room while visiting her at the maternity ward in Doctors Hospital in Nassau, Bahamas, on September 10, 2006, just three days after she had given birth to his half-sister, Dannielynn Hope Marshall Stern. Cyril Wecht, an American forensic pathologist, stated Daniel Smith accidentally overdosed on methadone, Zoloft and Lexapro. Larry Birkhead testifying at an inquest stated that security in the house indicated that Daniel had stolen his mother's methadone; used drugs with his mother and lost about twenty pounds before his death.

On September 20, 2006, authorities issued a death certificate for the son of Anna Nicole Smith but left the cause of death undetermined pending toxicology tests.

On October 7, Daniel's friends and family, including his father Billy Smith and grandmother Virgie Arthur, gathered at the First Baptist Church of Mexia for a separate memorial service while Anna Nicole remained with Howard K. Stern in the Bahamas. Daniel was eulogized at the service by his great-grandfather Gus Moser. Daniel was finally buried at New Providence, Bahamas, on October 19, 2006. According to Howard K. Stern, Smith's long-time companion, she was devastated over her son's death. "Anna and Daniel were inseparable. Daniel was without question the most important person in Anna’s life."

At age 16, Smith was featured as himself on his mother's reality television series, The Anna Nicole Show, which ran on the E! Entertainment Television channel from 2002 to 2004. The show's makeup artist remembered him as "a shy, sweet kid" and that his mother often worried that the camera crews were upsetting him. He was always shown in the opening credits, but his actual appearances were minimal. In a second-season episode he would mention that he no longer wanted to be part of the show. He was also seen with his mother in E! True Hollywood Story. Daniel played bit parts in two of his mother's films, Skyscraper and To the Limit. Described by Anna as a straight-A honor student, he had last been attending classes at Los Angeles Valley College in the summer of 2006.

Smith was born in Mexia, Texas, to Billy Wayne Smith and Vickie Lynn Hogan (later known as Anna Nicole Smith). After his parents separated in 1987, Daniel was raised by his mother and maternal grandmother, Virgie Mae Arthur, until he was six years old. He spent his childhood in a variety of different private schools. He was the stepson of J. Howard Marshall II, whom his mother met at a strip club and married in 1994.

Daniel Wayne Smith (January 22, 1986 – September 10, 2006) was the son of the American model and actress Anna Nicole and Billy Wayne Smith. He occasionally appeared in his mother's E! Network reality TV show. Smith died on September 10, 2006, at age 20, after an accidental overdose.