Daniel Wayne Smith was born in Limestone County, Texas, to Anna Nicole Smith and Billy Smith. Anna Nicole raised her son after her relationship with his father ended in 1987.

Over the course of his school years he attended several private schools.http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/ny-smithlife0926,0,3691935.story?coll=ny-entertainment-headlines

When he was 16 years old, Daniel was featured on his mother's reality television series, "The Anna Nicole Show", which ran on the E! Entertainment Television channel from 2002 to 2004. He also played small parts in Skyscraper and To the Limit, films made with his mother.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Wayne_Smith

He was the stepson of oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II. His mother had Marshall in 1994, when she was 26 and he was 89. Marshall died in 1995.

In a long-running dispute with Pierce Marshall (J. Howard Marshall's son), Smith had contested and won a $474 million judgment from the estate, which was later cut to about $89 million, and finally reduced once again, this time to no money. Pierce Marshall died in June at the age of 67

Just prior to Marshall's death, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Smith's favor when it said Smith could continue to pursue the money in federal courts in California despite a Texas state court ruling that Marshall’s youngest son was the sole heir.http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14782573/

Twenty-year old-Daniel Smith died while visiting his mother Anna Nicole Smith at the maternity ward, on September 10, 2006, days after she had given birth to his half-sister, Dannielynn at Doctors' Hospital in Nassau, Bahamas.

Assistant commissioner of the Royal Bahamian Police Force, Reginald Ferguson, said in an interview with The Associated Press,It would appear from our report that the mother had gotten up, saw him in the chair and he appeared to be sound asleep, he said. he tried to wake him up, he was unresponsive, and she sounded the alarm.http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14782573/

Ferguson also stated that Smith was pronounced dead at the hospital by medical personnel.

The death of Daniel Smith was caused by a lethal combination of methadone, Zoloft and Lexapro, according to pathologist Dr. Cyril Wecht. Wecht said the drugs caused the cardiac arrhythmia that led to Daniel's death. Toxicological results were from National Medical Services in Willow Grove, Pa.

Lexapro, generic name Escitalopram, is an antidepressant and is used to treat anxiety in and/or major depressive disorder in adults and adolescents who are at least 12 years old.http://www.drugs.com/lexapro.html

Zoloft, generic name sertaline, is used to treat depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder, anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and in women, premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD). http://www.drugs.com/zoloft.html

Methadone is used to help heroin addicts end their addiction, but Wecht said the drug is "a legitimate prescription drug for pain relief" and that Daniel had "no known history of morphine addiction." http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,1540184,00.html