BOSTON (AP) -- The lawyer for a Boston man accused of killing a Northeastern University student in her apartment four years ago has withdrawn from the case after the suspect struck him in court.

Attorney Jeffrey Karp said he is no longer representing Cornell Smith.

Karp told The Boston Globe that Smith struck him in the head and drew blood from a cut on his face during a hearing Tuesday. He said Smith had never before shown hostile behavior toward him. He does not plan to press charges.

The 30-year-old Smith is accused of fatally shooting 22-year-old Rebecca Payne of New Milford, Conn. in May 2008 in a case of mistaken identity. Prosecutors have said Smith was after another woman who lived in the same building. He has pleaded not guilty.