During last year’s Bayou Classic weekend in New Orleans, a crowded sidewalk on Canal Street witnessed a shocking incident. J’kari Campbell, a fifteen-year-old, fired two gunshots aimlessly. Recalling the incident to the jury this week, the teenager confessed that he could barely recall the moment he took the life of Keyron Travis, an eighteen-year-old.
During his testimony on Wednesday, Campbell admitted that he fired the gun due to fear. The altercation between Campbell and Travis, which took place on Bourbon Street, escalated when Travis brandished a concealed black pistol. Campbell stated that when he spotted Travis again, he felt threatened and acted instinctively. “I sensed imminent danger,” explained Campbell, who is currently 16 years old. “Without thinking, I instinctively drew my gun and fired two shots.”
Orleans Parish prosecutors had a completely different perspective on the matter, as they argued during a three-day trial that he had deliberately waited for Travis and carried out a premeditated, ruthless attack that was captured on surveillance cameras.
Mandatory sentence
The jury reached a verdict on Thursday afternoon, siding with the prosecutors. After deliberating for less than two hours, they found Campbell guilty as charged. As a result, Campbell is now facing a mandatory sentence of life in prison, with the possibility of parole after 25 years.
Campbell could have been released at age 21 if he had been processed through the juvenile justice system. However, District Attorney Jason Williams decided to charge him as an adult for the killing that occurred on November 26, 2022.
In just three years in office, Williams has transferred at least 16 youth from the juvenile system to adult court. Despite his initial campaign promise not to try youth as adults, he made the decision to do so as juvenile crime rates continued to rise.
“Serious choices can have serious consequences. And it is these consequences that deserve appropriate and significant repercussions,” emphasized Assistant District Attorney Constance Tullier in her closing argument on Thursday morning.
‘Smoking gun’
Assistant District Attorney Stephen Collins described Campbell’s testimony as dishonest and uncooperative. He argued to the jury that the teenager had fabricated a threat from Travis.
Collins claimed that Campbell had been “stalking” Travis outside the Astor Crowne Plaza hotel. Surveillance cameras at the scene recorded Campbell wearing a ski mask while pointing his gun at Travis. Despite Travis not facing Campbell at the time, he was struck by a bullet in his arm and side.
“The tragic aspect of it is that Travis probably passed away without any knowledge of who had shot him or the underlying motive behind it. Can you even fathom that?” Collins expressed. Collins further disclosed that Travis succumbed to his injuries hours later while undergoing surgery at the hospital.
A police officer patrolling on foot successfully subdued Campbell, bringing him to the ground. According to Collins, Campbell was captured with the gun still in his hand, as if it had just been fired.
Appeal to youth
According to Campbell’s defense attorney, Diana Yu, prosecutors failed to provide a motive for the killing and lacked evidence of premeditation. Yu criticized the police investigation for being incomplete and not thoroughly examining the surveillance videos.
“The state never made any effort to understand why this happened,” she expressed.
Yu criticized prosecutors for their refusal to allow Campbell to plead to a lesser offense, which would have resulted in a lighter sentence. Instead, the prosecutors emphasized the possibility of Campbell’s release after 25 years.
Yu argued that the intention behind suggesting a verdict of manslaughter or negligent homicide was not to diminish the seriousness of the situation. Rather, it was to highlight the potential consequences of putting the child in Angola for the rest of his life.
“How do we assess J’kari’s impulsive and immature blackout response? How do we analyze it within the confines of an environment that was not designed to accommodate him?”
Four teenagers recently convicted of the murder of 73-year-old Linda Frickey, who was killed on March 21, 2022, in a Mid-City carjacking gone awry, have been transferred to adult court by Williams.
Williams chose not to address inquiries on Thursday regarding his choice to transfer Campbell or whether his office declined to consider a plea agreement. During the court proceedings, the prosecutors insinuated that the nature of the crime was too atrocious to warrant lenient repercussions.
According to Tullier, Campbell pointed his gun at the target not just once, but twice, essentially using it for its intended purpose – to cause harm and potentially take a life.
She emphasized that sympathy should never influence your decision.
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