JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The mother of 13-year-old Prince Holland, who was killed in a 2022 drive-by shooting, is speaking out for the first time since two shocking court verdicts earlier this month.
The jury was unable to reach a verdict in the case against Marcel Johnson, 25, the accused driver, and that same day, Oct. 9, a separate jury found the accused shooter, Kentrevious Garard, 27, not guilty on all five counts.
“That was my baby who should still be here, who should still have a life, who should be in high school right now, who should be playing sports, who should still be cutting his grass and everything else that he was doing,” Holland’s mother, Chantel Brown, said. “He should still be going to church like he was doing. He had a life to live. Y’all took it.”
Johnson, who remains charged with murder and will again face trial in the case, was set to appear in court Tuesday morning, nearly two weeks after the judge declared the mistrial.
Prosecutors had argued that on Dec. 3, 2022, Johnson drove a blue Kia Rio with Garard inside, waiting for a red SUV carrying Holland, his football coach, and three other children.
According to testimony during the trial, the coach was the target of the ambush shooting. Investigators said 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.
But the jury acquitted Garard in the case.
Prosecutors have said Johnson’s own actions, including an Instagram Live video posted days after the shooting, suggested he had no remorse. Johnson’s defense argued that a confession he gave to police was coerced.
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.
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.
Brown, Holland’s mother, spoke to the media after the mistrial ruling and Garard being found not guilty.
No I don’t feel like justice was served. My son doesn’t have justice. Everybody forgets what I went through, what my son went through and what pain he endured. We still endure this each and every day, and today just made me have to relive the moment all over again and now I have to fight even harder to keep my son’s name alive because he is no longer with us, and he was a 13 year-old child. He should still be here with us on earth. Right now, I am an angry mom, a pissed off mom, so no this is not justice. This is hurt on top of hurt and the tears don’t even amount to the pain I feel behind this, but I’ll fight every day and keep my son’s name alive.
Chantel Brown