JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A day after one of the two Jacksonville men accused in the 2022 drive-by shooting death of 13-year-old Prince Holland testified in his own defense, closing arguments began Wednesday morning.
Press the play button above to view the live stream. Note that there may be explicit language and images displayed during closing arguments.
Kentrevious Garard, 27, and Marcel Johnson, 25, are both facing first-degree murder charges in connection with the teen’s death. The suspects are facing separate juries in their combined trial.
Garard took the stand on Tuesday, admitting that he lied to police but claiming he wasn’t involved in criminal activity and distancing himself from others tied to the case, particularly his co-defendant, Johnson.
According to investigators, on Dec. 3, 2022, Johnson drove a blue Kia Rio with Garard inside, waiting for a red SUV that was carrying Holland, his football coach and three other kids.
According to testimony during the trial, the coach was the target of the ambush shooting. Investigators say that when the SUV stopped at the intersection of Moncrief and New Kings roads, Garard fired shots at the SUV, killing Holland and wounding others, including the coach and an 11-year-old child.
Closing arguments - State
Prosecutors told jurors that Johnson knew exactly what he was doing the night Holland was killed and that he wasn’t an unwilling participant, but the driver who brought the murder weapon, a rifle that he was seen holding days before the shooting.
They said Johnson’s own words and actions, including his Instagram Live video days after the murder, showed no remorse and gloated about the shooting.
Prosecutors said Johnson voluntarily asked to speak with detectives and described how he and Garard followed the SUV, ambushed the SUV and fled afterward. They pushed back against the defense’s claim that Johnson was forced to be there.
In their final words, prosecutors told jurors to focus on the confession, the gun, the video, and Johnson’s own admissions, calling them proof of intent and guilt.
“He may have been a talented rapper, but he couldn’t talk himself out of this one,” the prosecutor said.
Closing arguments - Marcel Johnson attorney
The defense said the state failed to prove Johnson was involved in the shooting, saying that his confession was coerced through intimidation and deception by the JSO detectives.
They also claimed investigators ignored other potential suspects and said that no eyewitnesses or physical evidence tied Johnson to the scene and urged jurors to find reasonable doubt.
“Sergeant Mitland told us after he got the confession from Marcel he stopped looking for anybody else, no other suspects, didn’t question other people, didn’t verify their stories...,” the defense said.
The state rebutted, saying that the defense’s arguments were based on “possible,” “speculative,” and “imaginary” doubts, not reasonable ones. They argued that detectives didn’t coerce Johnson, but pushed him because he was lying during interviews.
NOTE: Because of the sensitive nature of the evidence and some of the witnesses’ identities, News4JAX will only show limited images from inside the courtroom. Some of the details below are graphic. Discretion is advised.
Accused shooter testifies
In a rare move for a murder trial defendant, Garard opted to take the stand in his own defense on Tuesday.
He admitted to being friends with Johnson since 2019, but testified that the relationship had grown distant by late 2021 because Johnson was selling drugs and he didn’t do anything to acknowledge his birthday.
Lawyer: Did he make any kind of effort to spend time with you or hang out with you on your birthday?
Gerard: No ma’am.
Lawyer: Did that upset you?
Gerard: Yes, it did.
Despite what he claimed was a soured relationship, Garard acknowledged that on the day of Holland’s murder, he invited Johnson over to his place to smoke marijuana and play video games.
He also acknowledged that he bought marijuana from Johnson at some point that day.
According to Garard, after visiting for about an hour, Johnson left Garard’s place to “make a pop. Go serve somebody,” which Garard explained meant selling marijuana.
Garard testified that he did not leave with Johnson, saying the last time he was in the blue car that investigators say was involved in the ambush was for a friend’s birthday on Nov. 30 -- days before the shooting.
Garard said he wasn’t sure if Johnson would be coming back that night, but when Johnson did return about 90 minutes later, he was shirtless and started rapping, which Garard said was not unusual for him.
Garard said he himself was not a rapper but appeared in several of Johnson’s music videos because they were friends.
Although he admitted to lying to police when they began investigating him and Johnson in connection with the deadly shooting, Garard maintained during cross-examination that his testimony on the stand was true. He said he lied earlier to protect himself and because he was under pressure.
At one point during his testimony, Garard started to say something to Holland’s family. But when he said “my heart goes out...” prosecutors quickly objected to the comment.
Johnson tells different story
While Johnson did not take the stand, a detective with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office testified about what Johnson told him during the investigation.
The detective said that at first, Johnson tried to say two people named “Drop” and “Slim” had taken the blue Kia Rio, which belonged to his grandmother, on the night of the shooting.
But the detective said that in a follow-up interview from jail, Johnson changed his story.
The new version had Garard and Johnson together in the blue car the night of the shooting. Johnson told detectives that Garard spotted the red SUV with the coach and the players inside and was “plotting” against them.
According to investigators, Johnson admitted that he drove the car while Garard fired from the passenger side using a Zastava-style rifle that belonged to Johnson’s brother.
Prosecutors noted that a few days later, Johnson went live on Instagram, appearing to mock the shooting, saying, “It’s bustin’ on 8th Street,” referring to the location of the nearest hospital.
They also said Johnson could be seen mimicking someone struggling to breathe while making a gun gesture with his hand.
JSO detective testifies
Monday’s testimony included a detective talking about the time he spoke with Garard’s girlfriend, Garard’s interrogation video in Orlando, and one of his jail calls with his girlfriend.
The interrogation video played in court started with the detective asking Garard to remember the first weekend of December. He talks about spending the day with his girlfriend, going to a restaurant in the afternoon, then spending the rest of the night at home playing video games.
The detective asked him about the blue Kia Rio that detectives say was used to execute the shooting. Garard said that he’s never seen the car, but the detective shows a report that connects him to the car and he again said he’s never been in that car.
The detective said Garard and Johnson’s phones were traveling together in the afternoon on Dec. 3, the day of the shooting.
Johnson’s attorney did a cross-examination, saying there’s no way of knowing who actually has possession of the device at the time.
Later, a jail call between Garard and his girlfriend was played. The detective said he drove to Tallahassee to speak with the girlfriend and confronted her with the jail call. She said that what Garard was telling her had to do with getting his property picked up and staying in contact with his mother and godmother.
The detective said he asked her about what happened the first weekend of December and she told the same story that she was with Garard that day, they went to a restaurant, and spent the rest of the day at home.
Testimony by coach who survived the drive-by
The man who was driving the SUV when Holland was fatally shot testified Friday that he saw the 13-year-old get hit.
He said he had been talking with the teen as he stopped at the intersection of Moncrief and New Kings roads.
“My hand was on the steering wheel, and I got shot through my arm and (Prince) got hit,” said the man, who had coached Holland and the other kids in his SUV during football tryouts minutes before the deadly shooting.
The coach became emotional and had to pause during his testimony in the murder trial of two Jacksonville men charged with killing Holland.
Under cross-examination, defense attorneys pressed him on his past connections with the Johnson family and when asked directly, he admitted he had never received any threats from either defendant.
How Marcel Johnson became a suspect
Jurors also watched a social media video while a detective explained how Johnson became a suspect.
“Marcel Johnson says ‘barely making it in that b----,’ Then after making that statement, he starts imitating what appears to be, in my opinion, a person struggling to breathe. After that, he starts making gunfire noises while using his fingers to shape a gun, in my opinion, while pointing it at the camera and making those noises,” JSO Detective Drabek said.
One of Garard’s friends also took the stand saying that he told the detective that Garard said the phrase, “I sprayed that thing up.”
“I told him we’re playing [video games], but y’all never actually came in and said, Kobe said that,” the friend said.
Testimony grew tense at times.
Witness: I told I was playing the game. You said, y’all came to ask me a question. And I said, Yeah, you said. And I said, I didn’t know what we’re talking about because I was hot, but I remembered it when I called and when we talked on the Zoom meeting. I told y’all you did, and
Attorney: No, you didn’t and I believe also in the sworn statement. You told what...
Garard Attorney: Your honor. He’s saying what he did and didn’t say.
Judge: Okay, hang on, hang hang on. We’re going to excuse juries
Garard’s attorney argued that the witness was on muscle relaxers and marijuana when he gave that original statement to detectives.
The coach testified Friday that he was shot 10 times in the attack, but didn’t realize that until he got to the hospital later.
“I only thought my arm got hit with Prince at the same time,” the coach said.
He believes a bullet went through his arm and then struck the teenager.
The coach was also wounded in his hip and stomach and lost his left index finger. He spent a year and eight months in the hospital.
During the coach’s testimony, the prosecutor also asked him about his history with Johnson, and he acknowledged the two had previously gotten into a fight at a gas station.
‘Very hard to breathe’
The 11-year-old who survived the attack is now a teenager and shared vivid testimony Thursday about the chaotic night Holland was killed.
The coach and the kids were leaving football tryouts when they stopped at the intersection, he recalled.
“About like three seconds later, (it) sounded like a whole bunch of firecrackers,” he said. “I was still in shock, and then once I looked up, it was, like the windshield was just blurry a little bit.”
He said everyone got out of the car once the shooting stopped.
“We tried to put the coach on the sidewalk, and then we kind of like ran back up from the car a little bit, and then (someone) called my mom,” he said.
He was wounded in the upper back and spent seven days in the hospital after the shooting. He explained what it felt like to be shot.
“I was just hot, and I was like spitting, and it was like a thick blood coming. After that, it was just like, very hard breathing, very hard to breathe,” he said.
In addition to the witness testimony on Thursday, gruesome evidence photos had emotional loved ones of Holland tearing up.
Chantel Brown, Holland’s mother, previously told News4JAX that the past few years have been horrible and being back for the trial has brought a flood of emotions as she’s forced to relive that night all over again.
She said she’s hoping this process will bring justice.
‘Boom, boom, boom’
Witnesses describing the chaos at the intersection that night said they heard loud pops that they thought were fireworks at first, and at least one witness recounted seeing a muzzle flash coming from a vehicle.
“I just heard and felt: boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom,” one witness said, explaining how she slipped down inside her car when she heard the explosive sounds. “I proceeded slowly to get back up. And then I noticed that the light had changed. I was a little hesitant. I was just kind of frozen and scared to move. But I decided to proceed, to go forward.”
She said when she did, a small blue car passed by her.
“The car came, and it seemed like to me out of nowhere, and it almost hit me,” she said.
Another witness said they saw muzzle flashes from a vehicle, although no one could identify the shooter or the car the shots were coming from.
Both defense attorneys emphasized that the witnesses could not identify the make or model of the suspect vehicle, nor how many people were inside.
Testimonies will continue on Friday morning at 9 a.m.
Gang connection?
One key part of pre-trial discussions involved whether or not rap videos could be used as evidence against the men.
Originally, Judge Jeb Branham agreed to allow the prosecutors to use as much video evidence as they needed to show a connection between the two defendants.
Branham also said, “The State may further show any portions of the videos that discuss 320 or proposed violent actions towards ‘ops,’ i.e. rival groups or gangs.”
But Garard’s attorneys continued to push back against the relevance of the videos, saying they are not disputing that the two men know each other and arguing that the videos could be prejudicial to the jury.
In a 2023 news conference, Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters said that Holland’s shooting was linked to “two rival street groups.”
Garard’s attorneys argue that he is not a documented gang member, the state hasn’t offered any evidence that he is connected to the two groups in question and that the videos have no bearing on the facts of the case.
RELATED | Accused shooter in Prince Holland’s death wants separate trial from accused driver
Last year, 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.