A jury found Jaikorian Johnson, now 18, guilty of second-degree manslaughter in the 2020 death of 15-year-old Corban Henry, in addition to 4 other charges. They recommended the maximum sentence for each charge, with the max combined sentence by law being 20 years in prison.
Following a five-day trial, the jury also found guilty of fourth-degree assault and four counts of first-degree wanton endangerment in the shooting incident that occurred Aug. 15, 2020.
The jury recommended the maximum sentence for each charge (10 years for manslaughter, 5 years each for the endangerment charges) and for the sentences to run concurrently. While those sentences actually add up to 30 years, Johnson’s combined total sentence by law was capped at 20 years.
By law, Johnson would be eligible for parole after serving 20% of his sentence, which equates to 4 years. There is no guarantee he would be granted parole at that point, or at any point before his sentence ends.
Johnson’s final sentencing, which will be officially handed out by Judge Lisa Jones, is scheduled for June 7. Johnson will be held at the Daviess County Detention Center until that court date.
Johnson was facing seven total charges in the trial: murder, attempted murder, tampering with physcial evidence, and four counts of wanton endangerment.
The jury had to reach a unanimous verdict on each charge. They deliberated for a little more than 2 hours Friday afternoon and the verdict was delivered just before 6:30 p.m. The deliberations for sentencing lasted about 30 minutes, and the recommendation was delivered at approximately 8:45 p.m.
- Charge 1
- Johnson was found guilty of second-degree manslaughter rather than murder or first-degree manslaughter, which both require intent to either kill or cause serious harm.
- Second-degree manslaughter is when someone wantonly causes the death of another person. It is a Class C felony.
- Charge 2
- Johnson was found guilty of fourth-degree assault rather than attempted murder or attempted first-degree manslaughter, which both require intent to either kill or cause serious harm. He was also found not guilty of second-degree assault.
- Fourth-degree assault is a Class A misdemeanor.
- Charge 3
- Johnson was found not guilty of tampering with physical evidence.
- Charges 4-7
- Johnson was found guilty on four counts of first-degree wanton endangerment. A person is guilty of wanton endangerment in the first degree when, under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life, he wantonly engages in conduct which creates a substantial danger of death or serious physical injury to another person.
- First-degree wanton endangerment is a Class D felony.
To read our coverage of the trial from beginning to end:
Day 1 opening arguments and testimony recaps
Day 5 testimony recaps and closing arguments (found below)
Johnson was represented by Ramon McGee, while Daviess County Commonwealth’s Attorney Bruce Kuegel prosecuted the case. Both sides rested their cases at approximately 11 a.m. The defense’s closing argument lasted about 45 minutes and the prosecution took about 50 minutes. The jury went into the deliberation room at approximately 3:45 p.m.
Testimony from juveniles
Two juveniles testified who were with Henry and the driver of the moped for different amounts of time before the shooting incident. Both said they believed Henry and the driver were going to Smothers Park when they left the house on Crabtree Avenue on the moped.
One juvenile said they had seen Henry’s airsoft gun while he was at the house, and that he moved the airsoft gun from his backpack to his waistband but that it was under his shirt and hoodie. The other juvenile said they had seen the airsoft gun in Henry’s possession previously.
One juvenile said both Henry and the driver had the hoods of their hoodies on and tied tight, but that Henry’s curly hair was visible in the front.
Testimony from Owensboro Police Department’s Jim Parham
Parham, who also testified Monday, supervises the OPD Crime Scene Unit’s collection of evidence. During Friday’s testimony, questions were mostly directed at where the spent casings were found.
He said casings are typically ejected to the right when a round is fired. He said based on training and experience, that meant if a gun was fired while on the south sidewalk of 5th Street and pointing east, the casings should have ended up in the grass. Parham said based on all the casings being in the road, the assumption was that whoever fired them was in the middle of the road when the gun was fired.
Upon cross examination, Parham acknowledged that if a person had been running in a non-straight line, the casings wouldn’t necessarily have ended up on a straight path. He also said that if casings landed on a hard surface, there was a chance they could bounce around within a limited area.
Parham said they didn’t do a reconstruction of the scene and just used photos and observations to make their assumptions of what happened. He also said OPD can’t say with complete certainty where the shooter was when the gun was fired, and no report was ever written about where the shooter was.
Parham said when he arrived to the scene with Henry’s body, Henry’s hood was not on. Since other first responders arrived before he did, Parham could not say for certain if Henry’s hood was on when his body was found.
Defense’s closing argument
McGee leaned heavy into the events that led up to the shooting incident and that Johnson felt his life was in danger. He talked about how Johnson has been a victim of gun violence, including just a few days prior to Aug. 15.
Regarding the incident itself, McGee argued the prosecution never proved an intent to kill — saying that’s because there wasn’t one. McGee said if there had been intent, Johnson could have unloaded a full magazine due to his close proximity to the moped, but said instead Johnon only shot five times as he was running away.
McGee also said that Johnson’s willingness to testify should lend credibility to his account of the events. McGee said the lone eyewitness identified Logan Clark as the shooter rather than Johnson, which McGee said gave Johnson a chance to lie and place the blame on Clark. Instead, Johnson admitted to firing the weapon.
McGee said Johnson took the stand because he “trusts the system. He trusts that the jury can see the truth. … and the truth is, Jaikorian did exactly what he had to do, he did exactly what he had to do because his life depended upon it.”
Prosecution’s closing argument
Kuegel referred to Johnson’s testimony as “a story” and said that some portions just didn’t add up. Admitting the prosecution is tasked with proving beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty, Kuegel said all the evidence backed up their case.
Kuegel said guns were found in the vicinity of where the suspects were located, and it was later proven that one of those guns was used in the shooting. He said Henry couldn’t have pulled his airsoft gun out of his waistband and also put it back before being shot. Kuegel also said the casings indicate the shooter was standing and perhaps even walking further into the street as he shot, rather than running along the sidewalk.
Kuegel also said that while most of the focus centered around the actions of Aug. 15, it started on Aug. 10 when Johnson bought a gun. Kuegel further said that despite Johnson saying he had been shot at previously, he never said he was the direct or intended target of any perceived threat.
Kuegel also said Johnson may have willingly testfied, but that he was evasive during certain lines of questions and making his story less credible.
“The story that he told is not adding up,” Kuegel said.
Kuegel also expressly claimed that Johnson intentionally shot and killed Henry, then attempted to pull at the juror’s feelings by holding up a photo of Henry and asking the jury to keep him in the back of their mind.
