Jury finds teen not guilty of murder in fatal shooting of another teen

A Manatee County jury has found a teenager not guilty in the 2015 fatal shooting of 16-year-old Justin Fabien.

After deliberating for less than three hours on Friday afternoon, a jury found Jamari Lamon Murray-Barnes, 19, not guilty of second-degree murder with a firearm.

Murray-Barnes, who had been in custody since his August 2015 arrest, walked out of the courthouse free on Friday alongside his defense attorney, Brett McIntosh, and family.

“Obviously, we are pleased with the verdict,” McIntosh later told the Herald. “The case spoke in part to the troubling use of jailhouse inmate testimony, so it was a just verdict.”

In the early morning hours of Aug. 10, 2015, Bradenton police were called to the 1200 block of 21st Street East to reports of a shooting and found Justin lying on the sidewalk with gunshot wounds to his head and neck. He was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.

Both teens, who are from Palmetto and had previously been enemies, allegedly were passengers in the same car on the night of the shooting. Witnesses had told police that when the driver dropped off Justin, Murray-Barnes allegedly got out behind him and shot him in the head and neck.

“We’re obviously disappointed but respect the jury’s verdict,” Assistant State Attorney Suzanne O’Donnell said.

This story was originally published October 13, 2017 at 6:40 PM with the headline "Jury finds teen not guilty of murder in fatal shooting of another teen."