Johnson receives max sentence for 2020 shooting death of Henry; judge denies request for acquittal or new trial

June 8, 2022 | 12:10 am

Updated June 7, 2022 | 9:02 pm

Jaikorian Johnson | Photo by Ryan Richardson

Jaikorian Johnson, who was found guilty of second-degree manslaughter in the 2020 shooting death of 15-year-old Corban Henry, was officially sentenced on Tuesday to 30 years in prison — though that will be capped at 20 based on Kentucky law. Despite requests from Johnson’s attorney that ranged from acquittal of charges to a new trial to probation, Circuit Judge Lisa Jones imposed the maximum sentence as recommended by the jury in April.

Johnson still has the opportunity to appeal the verdict.

Jury’s verdict and recommended sentence

Following a five-day trial in April, the jury also found Johnson 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.

Jones statements during final sentencing

After numerous requests by the defense and responses from the prosecution (detailed below), Jones ruled that she was imposing the recommended sentence by the jury. 

“Wanton behavior is behavior that creates a substantial and unjustifiable risk,” Jones told Johnson. “The jury didn’t find you guilty of murder. They didn’t believe that you set out that night to kill someone or that you wanted someone dead. But they believed that you intentionally and consciously created a risk that, despite your belief, was not justified.”

Jones said, “After hearing the evidence, I think one of the most appalling things to me was the ease with which you were able to get a gun. You decided that you wanted a gun, that you needed a gun, and within 24 hours, you had a gun and a handful of bullets for $50. You can’t even take a date to the movies for $50. Almost immediately you then posted a video posing and dancing with the gun like it was the hottest fashion accessory. Just a few days later, you used that gun, and another young boy died, a young boy who also had a gun — it was an airsoft pistol but for all intents and purposes it appeared to be a gun. 

Jones said gun violence has become the leading cause of death among juveniles in the past 2 years. 

“And our popular culture may be partially to blame for making guns cool, for making vigilantes heroes, for making shootouts seem commonplace,” she said. “And maybe our politics and our businesses are to blame for not acting to make it harder than 50 bucks and a social media chat to put a gun in the hands of a child all in the name of profits and power. And maybe our local communities, our parents, police, churches, even our courts, schools, and neighborhoods, didn’t do more to take responsibility to make you and to make Corban feel safe, to make you feel trust, to make you feel valued, so that each of you didn’t end up on the street that night with guns in your possession.”

Jones continued, “But ultimately, the choice to fire the gun was yours. You testified that you weren’t looking, that you were running and shooting. But that’s where a gun is not a rock or a fist or a knife. It’s a weapon that’s capable of death, even from a distance, even if you’re not looking, and even if that’s not what you meant to have happened. It was a choice that you made, and that led to Corban Henry’s death. The jury held you accountable for that choice, and they sent a clear message by imposing the maximum sentence. Would probation diminish the seriousness of the offense? In this case I believe the jury has spoken and in this case the court feels the same way that yes it would. So, at this time, I am imposing the sentence that was recommended by the jury.

Defense asked court for acquittal or new trial

Before Jones issued her ruling, Johnson’s attorney Ramon McGee asked the judge to either acquit Johnson of the charges or grant him a new trial.

In April, McGee filed a 14-page motion asking Jones for the acquittal or new trial. He detailed some of that document Tuesday.

McGee’s request relied heavily on a few main objections the defense had during the trial. Per the filing, those were: 

(a) objection to testimony regarding possession of a firearm by the unindicted co-defendant Logan Clark;

(b) objection to the possession of a backpack/waist pack by the unindicted co-defendant Logan Clark as used by the Commonwealth for purposes of identification and possession of certain items of contraband by the parties;

(c ) objection to the denial of use of testimony (preserved by avowal) regarding the possession of a pistol by the alleged victim Corban Henry in furtherance of a planned robbery at Smothers Park in Owensboro, Kentucky. This testimony was elicited from Angelina Cates (who testified during the trial) and Amelia Cates (who was set to testify but withheld by the defense owing to previous rulings by the Court regarding the admissibility of testimony regarding the robbery;) 

(d) all other objections made and not previously stated herein.

McGee said that the Cates’ testimonies should have been considered relevant to the case. He said the Commonwealth objected to the introduction of that evidence because they said it was irrelevant.

“Imagine if we had said that Mr. Johnson was on his way to rob somebody and had a gun, and in the process of that he encountered some other person and shot that person,” McGee said. “I can’t imagine Mr. Kuegel or anyone on that team would stand up and say somehow that’s irrelevant to the fact that this individual they encountered was shot, but they objected to it in this case because it changed the dynamic of the theory that they put before the jury. It would have changed the way that a jury saw Mr. Henry, and subsequently would have impacted their view of this idea that Mr. Johnson acted in self-protection. I can’t imagine anything that would have been more important or relevant to this idea that Mr. Johnson thought he was a victim, than the idea that the person who died was in the process of committing a felony at the time that it occurred.

In his response, Daviess County Commonwealth’s Attorney Bruce Kuegel said the prosecution and defense spent a lot of time discussing those testimonies with the judge in detail. He said the testimonies were hearsay, and that what is heard over a phone can’t be used as evidence. He said their testimony was also irrelevant anyway.

Jones said the court found that those testimonies were irrelevant to the case, saying the jury “heard plenty of evidence about the gun that was found on Mr. Henry.” 

McGee also said while there was some proof that “at some point Jaikorian was in possession of the weapon,” none of the prosecution’s witnesses could expressly say Johnson was the person who fired the gun used to kill Henry based solely on any specific piece of evidence. He said the evidence and witnesses instead initially pointed to Logan Clark as the shooter. 

Kuegel said there was plenty of evidence proving that Johnson was the person who fired the gun. He brought up multiple times that a video was presented as evidence that showed Johnson waving “a very distinctive gun” around, and that it matched the gun that was determined to have been used to shoot Henry.

“[The jury] didn’t leave their common sense at the door whenever they came in,” Kuegel said. “They were able to rationalize … the jury made their decision based upon the totality of the evidence.”

McGee added that the Commonwealth kept referring to the defense’s opening statement that Johnson fired the weapon in self-defense, but said that opening statements made by attorneys are not legally allowed to be considered as evidence.

“At the beginning of the case, both parties provided our opening statement. … The first part of the case heard how the shooting took place, the individuals that were present, and ultimately what caused Corban Henry’s death,” McGee said. “What the jury did not hear was evidence that Jaikorian Johnson was the shooter that caused this death. That information came from the defense counsel in the opening statement. … If you look at just the evidence alone, if the defense counsel had said nothing, if I had just sat here and not given an opening statement, then there’s no question the jury would have said ‘wait a minute, why is [Johnson] sitting here when the other guy was identified as the shooter?’”

McGee said the jury’s verdict suggests “if the jury had believed that the shots were anything other than self-protection … the verdict would have been guilty of murder.”

Kuegel said while the defense brought up the claim of self-defense, the prosecution continued with their case as if the claim had not been made. 

“That was a seed that was planted not by the Commonwealth, but by the defense. Then at the time it was proper, that defense was set forth through the testimony of the defendant. And the jury was able to listen and consider all of the evidence that had been put on by the prosecution and all of the evidence and the stories and the explanations (by the defense).” 

Jones said, “The jury obviously paid very close attention during the course of the trial. They deliberated extensively. They took this very seriously, and I think they took all [the testimony and evidence] into consideration when they issued a verdict of manslaughter second-degree.”

McGee also claimed the wanton endangerment charges did not meet the criteria to be found guilty as defined by Kentucky law. McGee essentially said that the prosecution never proved any specific person was in danger of, nor that any property was damaged by, the bullets fired — aside from the one that struck Henry and Raedon Pitman. McGee further said that Pitman was never an intended target and was only struck because Johnson was acting in self-defense. 

Kuegel said the wanton endangerment was warranted because the incident occurred in a neighborhood. Healso said that Johnson made a conscious decision to arm himself that night. 

“No one had made any threats,” he said. “There was no reason for him to think that he was in danger in any way, shape, or form. 

Jones said case law allows the prosecution to charge wanton endangerment either by the number of potential victims or by the number of shots fired, and the Commonwealth proceeded using the latter.

“Wanton behavior is behavior that creates a substantial and unjustifiable risk,” Jone said … The choice to take that gun, to fire that gun, to run and blind fire it. … [The jury] took all that into consideration and the court finds they had enough evidence to make the verdict … Running and blind firing in a neighborhood … creates a substantial and unjustifiable risk that people in the houses and the people in the neighborhood would be harmed.”

Defense asked court to oppose or reduce sentence; mothers speak

After the request for acquittal or a new trial was denied, McGee then asked Jones to oppose or reduce the recommended sentence. In short, he said that Kentucky law allows youthful offenders to receive probation following the conviction of a felony offense if they were transferred to the adult division system.

McGee acknowledged that it was a tough case for the jury.

“At the base all of this, and the thing that’s inescapable, is you’re talking about the death of a 15-year-old boy, and what magnifies that problem is the fact that a 17-year-old was accused of being the perpetrator,” he said. “You have a situation where you have two mothers who are watching the lives of their sons play out in the courtroom — one who ended at 15 before he ever really had the chance to live, and the other 17 who is looking at losing a period of his life that is longer than he’s been on this planet as a result of what the jury ultimately recommended.”

McGee added, “I don’t think, respectfully, that taking the next 20 years of Jaikorian’s life is going to provide any solace for the fact that a 15-year-old is gone. Superficially it sounds great, because it seems like justice, but is it really?”

Johnson’s mother Kristy Parm fought through tears for much of the proceedings. McGee called her to the stand with hopes of getting Johnson’s sentence reduced. He asked Parm what Johnson would do if he received probation, and she said that he would stay with her and had a job lined up.

Referring to Johnson testifying during the trial that he had been shot at multiple times during incidents unrelated to the case, Parm also was emotional in saying she felt responsible for Johnson’s actions.

“I feel like I’m to blame, because if I knew somebody was shooting at him, he would have never got to go outside. He has everything that he needed at home,” she said.

Parm said if Johnson were granted parole, it would be safe for him to be in the community.

Kuegel said while McGee tried to paint a picture of Johnson being a “normal teenager” on the night of Henry’s death, that wasn’t an accurate description.

“I don’t know how [Johnson] is now, but I’ll tell you what — that night, and leading up to that night, there was a hint of evil. He was armed and there was no reason for him to be,” Kuegel said.

Kuegel said while the defense kept saying a 20-year sentence was longer than Johnson has been alive, it’s still deserved.

“Do not forget Corban Henry, justice for Corban Henry,” Kuegel said. “Corban Henry’s life is over. He has departed this world, and it was at the hands of Jaikorian Johnson. I also ask the court to consider ‘adult crime, adult time.’ There is a reason that the jury came back and made its recommendation of 30 years, knowing that it was capped at 20.”

Corban’s mother Nancy Henry also spoke, asking for the maximum sentence. She claimed Johnson has not looked sorry or remorseful throughout court proceedings and has not apologized to her for the incident. She said the court needs to make sure that the public is safe. 

“With him out on the streets, Owensboro is just not safe,” she said. “That’s just the plain fact. He claims that he shot up in the air like this (pointing her hand behind her in the air). If he had shot like that, my son would be alive right now. We know those are blatant and obvious lies.

Before issuing her ruling, Jones spoke directly to Nancy, saying “No one can tell you how fast you should recover, what you should do, how long it takes you to grieve, or what that grieving should look like. This is an indescribable loss for you and for Corban’s family and friends.”

June 8, 2022 | 12:10 am

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