Willie Smith (alias The West Side Rapist) is a serial rapist and registered sex offender from Detroit who targeted white women in the Upper West Side neighborhood of Manhattan. His crimes indirectly led to the death of Mehcad Carter, who was mistaken for him and shot in self-defense. Smith was arrested while in the process of committing another rape, and positively identified by all of his victims. He was convicted of the rapes. (SVU: "American Tragedy")