By Alex Gecan
Bedlam erupted in a Kings County courtroom this afternoon, drowning out the last of three guilty verdicts against Jarelle Washington.
Washington’s relatives and friends, some of them too hysterical to be understood, were escorted out of Judge Alan Marrus’ courtroom at 320 Jay St. Others followed soon after to console or commiserate. Within seconds, the defendant-turned-convict’s side of the courtroom was empty.
Washington, 24, was convicted of one count of second-degree murder and two counts of attempted second-degree murder in connection with a shooting on July 18, 2007.
Washington had been riding in a car with one or two unidentified persons when he opened fire on Reheem Johnson, then 16, Keith Meyes, then 18, and Meyes’ father, Corey Sharpe, then 39. The bullets left Sharpe paralyzed from the waist down and Johnson fatally wounded. Meyes, also wounded, made a full recovery.
As the jury deliberated, a woman stalked the hallway of the twenty-first floor, proclaiming Washington’s innocence. The jurors meanwhile paused their deliberations to hear Corey Sharpe’s testimony read back to them by Judge Marrus and a court reporter.
Sharpe had recounted how he and Meyes had driven to Sharpe’s sister-in-law’s house and been joined by Johnson. Hearing gunshots and seeing a car bearing down on him with a gunman leaning out the passenger-side window, Sharpe dove behind his minivan, but not before sustaining a crippling gunshot wound to the back.
Sharpe testified that he saw his son lying on the curb next to him, and didn’t find out until hours later that Meyes had survived.
Sharpe also testified that, while he was in the hospital, Washington came to visit him. Washington, Sharpe testified, told him , “I’m sorry I shot you,” and that Washington gave Sharpe a telephone number, telling him to “call this number if you need anything.”
The jury then returned to its deliberations, but returned after only a few minutes’ discussion. In anticipation of an emotional verdict, four additional court officers had joined the two already stationed inside the courtroom.
As the foreman read the verdict—guilty on all counts—two women on Washington’s side of the courtroom began to wail and were immediately removed, followed soon after by the rest of the entourage.
A bailiff repeated the verdict, speaking loudly to be heard over the sounds of screaming and slapping from outside the courtroom. Before excusing the jury, Judge Marrus offered congratulations to the jury and instructed them to “Never be afraid to introduce yourself to me as one of my jurors.”
Reheem Johnson’s parents, George Hunter and Ozella Thomas, sat silently as the verdict was read once by the jury foreman and then again by a bailiff.
Waiting for the chaos outside the courtroom to subside, Hunter lamented that only Washington had been convicted. He said that Washington was just taking the fall for his two cohorts.
“It just hurts,” said Thomas, unable to say anything else.
“No one wins,” said Margaret Brewer, Johnson’s cousin.
After several minutes, one of the court officers returned to the courtroom to usher out Hunter, Thomas and Brewer from the other side of the aisle. The threesome huddled in a waiting area as scores of uniformed officers monitored the elevator bank.
When one of the escorts announced that all of Washington’s contingent had “left the building,” they shuffled off towards the elevators.
Two court officers rode downstairs as well, discussing the fray.
“It’s always the women,” said one to the other.
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