JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The two men charged in the tragic shooting death of 13-year-old Prince Holland will face separate juries after a court hearing on Thursday.
Kentrevious Garard, 27, and Marcel Johnson, 25, are both facing first-degree murder charges in connection with the teen’s 2022 death.
Judge Jeb Branham ordered Garard and Johnson to have two separate juries, but according to Garard’s attorney, S. Nicole Jamieson, the judge did not decide if the trials would be conducted as a joint trial with two separate juries in the courtroom or two trials on completely separate dates.
The court hearing centered around the state wanting to enter three YouTube videos into evidence to show the connection between Garard and Johnson.
The state argued that Johnson was featured in the videos rapping while Garard was seen in the background of the videos. In one video, he appeared to be holding a gun.
Jamieson said she planned to embrace he fact that the men knew each other, but she argued the videos are prejudicial.
“I don’t know that the state can’t even provide any testimony to establish that it was actually a firearm,” she said. “But most importantly, Mr. Garrard has no prior records, so there would be nothing unlawful about his possession. Even if, even if the state could establish that it was a firearm, there would be nothing unlawful about him possessing a firearm. In a video multiple years before this incident occurs.”
Johnson’s lawyer, Peter Venuti, also argued against the use of the YouTube videos.
“I believe, create a risk that the jury would convict based on stereotypes, biases or assumptions about Mr. Johnson’s character, rather than the evidence itself,” Venuti said.
After a lot of back and forth about the videos Judge Branham ultimately decided to take some time to think about his ruling.
“It’s entirely possible that I won’t be able to rule on it until we get into presentation of evidence,” Judge Branham said.
Holland’s mother said following a previous hearing that she was frustrated by the delays in the case.
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One key reason for the delay is that the judge and attorneys have to go through all of the evidence and see what is admissible to each case. The judge said that could take some time.
According to investigators, in December 2022, Johnson drove a car while Garard fired shots at an SUV at the intersection of Moncrief and New Kings Road, killing Holland.
Another young boy and the football coach, who was driving, were also hit.
Garard’s attorney filed a motion last November, seeking to have her client tried separately from Johnson. She argued that while Garard is accused of being the shooter, there is little evidence against him compared to the overwhelming evidence against Johnson.
Last June, the State Attorney’s Office released evidence, including footage and phone calls related to the investigation. A nearly four-hour-long interrogation of Johnson was also made public.
MORE | New evidence images, 911 calls released nearly a year after murder of 13-year-old Prince Holland
During the interrogation, Johnson reportedly told detectives about the tension between him and Garard as they followed the red SUV carrying Holland from football tryouts.
According to Johnson, when they reached an intersection, Garard allegedly instructed him to “let the shots off.”
The police reported that more than 20 bullets were fired during the incident. Johnson has claimed that Garard threatened him to ensure his silence about the events that transpired.
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In a 2023 news conference, Sheriff T.K. Waters said that the shooting was linked to “two rival street groups.”
Garard’s attorney, S. Nicole Jamieson, sent News4JAX’s Briana Brownlee a statement regarding the motion to separate the cases.
“We are hoping the court severs the two trials so that a jury can clearly evaluate the lack of evidence against Mr. Garard independent of his co-defendant’s case.”
S. Nicole Jamieson, Kentrevious Garard's attorney
Holland’s mom, Chantel Brown, is frustrated about S. Nicole Jamieson pushing to have a separate trial from Johnson.
“I feel like she don’t care about nobody else,” Brown said. “She don’t care about the kids involved, let alone the family or me or the victim that was murdered so why would you want to put us through that more than once.”
Brown also said she’s open to having one trial with two separate juries.
“Yeah I don’t feel like it’s going to make a difference, guilty is guilty,” Brown said.
