A jury trial continued Thursday for Jaikorian Johnson, the teenager charged with the 2020 murder of 15-year-old Corban Henry. Johnson took the stand for a few hours. Highlights from his testimony include that he admitted to firing the gun used in Henry’s death, but that he was “blind firing” as he ran the other direction because he felt his life was in danger.
Johnson is being represented by Ramon McGee, while Daviess County Commonwealth’s Attorney Bruce Kuegel is prosecuting the case.
Thursday’s proceedings began with Kuegel briefly recalling Owensboro Police Department’s Josh Alsip, lead detective on this case, as well as Corban’s mother Nancy. Kuegel then rested his case.
Johnson was then called by McGee to give his account of what happened.
For recaps from the previous days of the trial, click here for day one, click here for day two, and click here for day three.
Editor’s note: Information in testimony recaps to this point have been presented in the order it was unveiled on the witness stand. Johnson’s testimony below has been structured to more closely resemble the timeline of the events as they unfolded on Aug. 15 rather than following the line of questioning and cross examination as it was done in the courtroom on Thursday.
The first part of Johnson’s testimony detailed how he and his family have been the subjects of gun violence. Johnson said he has been shot at three times in his life, including two times in the two weeks leading up to the incident on Aug. 15, 2020. Two of his uncles were also killed in the span of about a month in 2017.
Regarding the times he has been shot at, Johnson said one time was by a person on a moped, though Johnson said he was not involved any the dispute between parties and was instead in a crowd of people that was fired upon.
The most recent time he was shot at, Johnson said, was just days before the incident with Henry. Johnson claimed he and his friend Logan Clark were walking down the street when a person with long, curly hair walked out of an alley and opened fire.
Johnson said after those incidents, he purchased a handgun. He said he purchased the gun from another juvenile he connected with through Snapchat but does not know the person’s name. Johnson testified that the gun had 2-3 bullets when he purchased it. Johnson also said he purchased an additional 10 rounds from a different juvenile he connected with through Snapchat, but again that he did not know the person’s name.
During the police investigation, a Snapchat video that was downloaded on Aug. 12 was discovered on Clark’s phone. That video has been shown during the trial, including on Thursday. Johnson admitted that he filmed the video on Aug. 12 but said he didn’t remember where. He acknowledged that he was holding his gun during that video, and that Clark could be seen with a different gun.
Johnson claimed he had never handled a gun before he purchased that one, and that he watched YouTube videos to learn how to properly load and use a firearm. He claimed he couldn’t remember if he fired the gun prior to the night of Aug. 15. Johnson said he wasn’t even sure at the time if the gun would fire.
Johnson then described his activity on the day of Aug. 15. He said he was playing video games that afternoon and Clark came over between 3-4 p.m., and the two of them played video games for a couple of hours.
Johnson testified that he got a Snapchat from a female cousin asking if he and Clark wanted to come to her house to hang out. He said they waited another 30-60 minutes then walked to the cousin’s house, which was about a 10-15 minute walk.
Johnson said he and Clark stopped at the Super A on 5th and Crabtree to purchase snacks. As can also be seen in video footage, Johnson testified that he was wearing khaki shorts and no shirt.
According to Johnson, he and Clark stayed at the cousin’s house for about an hour before deciding to return to Johnson’s house to get clothes, as the two had made plans earlier to stay the night at Clark’s house.
Johnson said they first stopped back at the Super A, where they waited outside as a person of legal age went inside to by Black & Mild cigars for the juveniles. Johnson said he and Clark then left and walked eastbound along 5th Street, saying they were on the sidewalk on the south side of the road.
Johnson admitted he had his gun with him the whole time as a means of self-protection due to being shot at recently. He said he isn’t sure if Clark had a gun that day.
Johnson said as they crossed the intersection of 5th and Castlen, he could hear a moped but wasn’t sure exactly where it was. He said it wasn’t going fast and that it “was basically creeping up on us.” Johnson claimed that he said something to Clark about the moped and that he was worried because he had previously been shot at by someone on a moped.
The moped passed Johnson and Clark near the entrance of what was Bluegrass Self Storage, located between Castlen and Monarch streets.
Johnson said he was on the left side of Clark, meaning Johnson was closer to the street.
Johnson testified that as the moped got even with him, “as soon as I looked over I seen a gun.” He said he saw two people on the moped; he recalled that the driver was wearing a hoodie and said the passenger on the back had long curly hair, like the person alleged to have shot at Johnson and Clark from the alley.
McGee showed Johnson the airsoft pistol that was recovered from Henry’s waistband and asked if he had seen it before, and Johnson testified that it looked like what was pointed at him on Aug. 15. Johnson said he was scared when he saw that.
Johnson claimed he turned around and began to run the direction he and Clark had just come from. He said he took about three steps, then pulled the gun from his front pocket and “blind fired” behind him as he was running, but said he didn’t remember how many shots he fired. Johnson said the safety was off when the gun was in his pocket.
Johnson stood and demonstrated what he meant by blind fire, raising his arm and pointing mostly behind him while facing forward. He said he was firing the weapon because he was “trying to scare them away from me,” and that when he pulled out his gun “I thought my life was in danger.”
Kuegel pressed Johnson hard on the direction that he was shooting, and they went in circles regarding the specific wording and the answers provided. Kuegel asked if he was shooting at the moped, to which Johnson replied no. Kuegel then asked if it was the direction of the moped and Johnson replied yes. However, when Kuegel asked if Johnson intended to shoot in that direction, Johnson replied no.
At that point, Kuegel asked why Johnson would shoot at something, and Johnson replied to “scare them away.”
During redirect questioning, McGee asked Johnson if he was shooting in the direction of the moped and he again replied no. He then said he was shooting toward a field that was on the opposite side of 5th Street (there is a mostly open lot between Monarch Street and Frayser Avenue, and it would have generally been in the direction that Johnson indicated he was pointing).
Johnson admitted the moped had at least been located in the direction that he was firing at some point.
During another cross examination, Kuegel further questioned the direction the gun was pointing when it was fired. Kuegel noted that there are houses on either side of the field as well as behind it. He asked if Johnson agreed it would be dangerous to be “throwing bullets” in the direction where there are ultimately houses, and Johnson replied yes.
McGee asked if Johnson would have been “throwing bullets, as Mr. Kuegel describes it” at an open field or any other direction “if a gun hadn’t been pointed at you” and Johnson replied no.
Johnson said he heard the moped speed up after he began firing the gun but never looked back, and that he didn’t know anyone or anything had been hit. Johnson said he’s “not sure” why he never looked back at the moped.
Johnson said he considered himself justified in taking the actions he did. He said he ran because he felt like he was still in immediate danger because he thought the moped could potentially turn around and come back.
Johnson said he had a chance to get rid of his gun but that didn’t cross his mind because he didn’t know anyone was hit, and he also thought he had only acted to protect himself. He also said he held on to the gun for self-protection.
Upon questions from both the defense and prosecution, Johnson said he did not call 911 because “I’m not a police kind of person” and “I don’t call the police.” He also said “I protected myself that night.”
As they ran away, Johnson said he and Clark took a left on Castlen, then jumped a fence to cut through property owned by the City of Owensboro to avoid 7th Street because he thought the people on the moped might come back and shoot at them.
It took about 5-7 minutes to return to his house after that, according to Johnson. Once there, Johnson said he put his gun in an orange Nike bag, then put clothes and snacks in the bag before they left, as the plan was still to go to Clark’s house.
Johnson said while at his house he also put on a pair of black shorts over the ones he was already wearing and put on a hoodie because it was getting chilly. He said he also changed shoes because the ones he had been wearing had gotten muddy.
According to Johnson, he thought they were going to Clark’s house, but Clark’s mom instead took them to Clark’s cousin’s residence on Werner Avenue.
Johnson testified that after about 10-15 minutes of being at the home on Werner, someone mentioned they saw lights outside. Johnson said he thought the people on the moped may have followed them, and that’s why he and Clark went to the back of the house to a laundry room.
Johnson said they sat and waited there until law enforcement entered the room. Johnson said after he and Clark were handcuffed for being suspects, they were first taken to another room but were then taken to the front porch.
Johnson said the orange bag with his belongings was with him in the laundry room when he was handcuffed. He said he thought only his belongings were in the orange bag, and that he doesn’t know how a gun with Clark’s DNA or a fanny pack belonging to Clark ended up in the orange bag.
Johnson also said he doesn’t know how it ended up under the bathroom sink, where police allege it was found. A pair of khaki shorts were also recovered at the scene but Johnson said they were not his.
Johnson said while at the home on Werner he was asked if he had been on 5th Street and he replied yes. He said he was also asked if he had been to McDonald’s, to which he replied no.
However, Johnson said he was not asked at that time if he was involved in a shooting incident. Johnson claimed he wasn’t informed about the shooting until he arrived at the police station.
Johnson acknowledged that he was taken to the station for a gunshot residue test, a buccal swab, and to give fingerprints. He was released to his mother early the morning of Aug. 16. He was not charged with anything at that time.
Johnson said after he was released, he did not leave town. He said he was at home when he was arrested 8 months later.
Johnson said it was never his intent to kill anyone. He said he thought his life was in danger and that was the only reason he pulled out a gun.
When McGee asked if Johnson meant to kill Henry that night, he said “I don’t want to kill anybody.”
The trial is expected to wrap up Friday. Owensboro Times will provide continuing coverage.
