Live updates: Suspect’s interview with police played at Lexington murder trial
The trial for a young man accused of shooting and killing someone at the Fayette Mall when he was 19 years old will continue today after jurors were selected late last week.
Danville resident Jessin Stateman, now 21, is on trial for charges of murder and criminal mischief after he allegedly shot and killed 23-year-old Jermaine Barber in November 2020 after the two agreed to meet outside the mall.
A police spokesperson said the two then got into a disorder, but didn’t clarify why the two had agreed to meet, but an arrest citation indicates marijuana was involved.
Stateman was charged after police showed up at the Fayette Mall on Nov. 5, 2020 around 8 p.m. for a reported shooting and found Barber near the P.F. Chang’s and the Cheesecake Factory, police said.
As court testimony gets underway Monday, here’s the latest to know about the case.
Suspect describes what led up to shooting
2:45 p.m. - Lexington police Detective Tim Moore testified Monday, saying he interviewed both Brown and Stateman. He said their statements were very similar and “very blunt.”
Moore said neither Stateman or Brown provided much detail on why they were in Lexington, but they were descriptive in detailing the incident and their meeting with the cops.
Moore asked Stateman repeatedly during the 2020 interview whether or not he was there for some type of drug deal, or to sell shoes. The recorded interview was played for jurors Monday.
Stateman told officers that he had sold shoes in Lexington before, but he was not there for any type of drug or shoe deal, and did not know the victim at all.
According to Moore, before Barber passed, he told police he was there for a shoe deal that went bad, and that we was robbed.
But later on Stateman admitted he was there to sell Barber marijuana. He said he still did not know Barber. He then admitted he was friends with him on the social media app Snapchat, and allegedly Barber said he was looking for marijuana.
“One person said they were there to buy shoes and was robbed. Another stated they were there to sell weed and was robbed,” Moore said during testimony.
Stateman claimed previously when Barber got in the car to rob him, he searched through his pockets, assaulted them and then left. He admitted he did get out of the car and fired his gun until he had no ammunition left.
He said he did not know if any of the bullets he fired hit Barber. Moore broke the news of Barber’s death later on in the interview.
“When you shot, you hit him,” Moore said. “He died after leaving the parking lot. I am telling you now. Tonight you are going to be charged with murder, and that is where we are at.”
Moore told him during the interview there would not be a case for self-defense because Barber was walking away, and was a good distance away from the car when Stateman shot.
“So what you are saying is I should have just let him go? I thought I was doing what I had to do,” Stateman asked.
Suspect’s ex-girlfriend: ‘I was afraid for my life.’
12 p.m. - Madison Brown, the defendant’s ex-girlfriend, was next to take the stand and recount the events of Nov. 5, 2020 for the court.
Brown said she was riding in the passenger seat of the car the night of the shooting, and said Stateman received a gun as a gift earlier that day.
She testified that at a certain time later that day, she got in the car with Stateman to go somewhere, but she did not know where they were going or why they were going there. She said she got in the car and was playing on her phone while riding along.
When they arrived at Fayette Mall, she said she was playing on her phone when a man opened the backseat passenger-side door, got in and began to “pistol whip” Stateman. She recalled the man put Stateman’s head down to the wheel and yelled at them to give them everything they had. He told them “I will air this b***h out,” according to court testimony.
Brown recalled the man turned to her and asked if she had anything while she had her hands up. When he exited, she got down on the floorboard of the car, fearing that the man would shoot inside the vehicle.
She said Stateman then opened the door, got out and fired shots but she did not know how many. Brown testified that she had not ever seen the victim before. She could not confirm if the man did take anything from either her or Stateman.
“He held his gun down and pointed it at both of our heads,” she said. “I thought he was going to shoot my car up and kill us. I thought I was going to die that night. I was afraid for my life.”
She testified she remained on the floorboard of the car until they moved to the Wal-Mart parking lot, where police arrived.
Shooting suspect reported robbery: ‘I let out all I had.’
11 a.m. - According to police officer Robert McCullough, he said three calls came out within three minutes the night of the shooting. Two were reports of shots fired, and one was from the defendant’s ex-girlfriend – reporting a robbery.
Another officer, Andrew Harold, said he found the defendant in a white passenger car with his emergency flashers on and a woman in the passenger seat. According to police, he had a handgun in his lap. They said Stateman and the passenger were compliant and put their hands up and exited the vehicle.
Body camera footage shown to the jury depicted Stateman describing the shooting to officers himself, saying he was robbed.
He recalled he was sitting in front of the Cheesecake Factory when he saw a man coming up to the vehicle in the rear-view mirror near the driver side, but moved to the passenger side. Stateman said the man got inside his car, pulled a pistol out, hit him in the face several times with the pistol, and then turned the firearm at the woman. Stateman recalled he made them put their hands up.
“I thought he was going to shoot, but he got out and walked away, which is when I got out and I let out all I had, which was about eight or nine bullets,” Stateman said.
He gave police permission to search the car where they located a Glock 17 handgun, a glass pipe, a digital scale, a metal rolling tray and nearly 10 grams of marijuana.
Family discovered car with bullet holes after dinner near shooting
10 a.m. - A woman out to eat with her fiance and kids the night of the shooting was called to the stand Monday to testify about damage caused to her car. Amanda Meyer said she was out to eat with her family at the Cheesecake Factory, and when they returned to their car, she noticed it was leaning to the right a bit.
She drove to a nearby Acura dealership on Nicholasville Road where she realized she had not only a flat tire, but several bullet holes in her car.
Meyer testified that she did not know there had been a shooting while she was eating dinner inside the restaurant.
“It is not what you see in the movies,” she said. “We did not know there was a shooting. Everything already happened and it was quiet and I didn’t realize that my car had been shot.”
Lexington cop shares evidence found at scene
9:40 a.m. - Lexington Police Department Sgt. Matthew Smith began testifying Monday on his involvement in the case, when he served on the forensic services unit.
Smith showed the jurors evidence found on the scene in the Fayette Mall parking lot near the Chipotle, Cheesecake Factory and Bar Louie restaurants.
This evidence included eight spent shell casings from a 9mm handgun, a black beanie, a fragmented projectile, a .40-caliber gun and a white tennis shoe. Also located at the scene was a blood-stained sweatshirt about four parking rows over from the other evidence nearby the main entrance of the shopping mall, according to Smith.
Trauma surgeon: Shooting victim was deemed ‘unsurvivable.’
9:00 a.m. - Prosecutors James Judge and Amanda Parker called several emergency services members and a University of Kentucky trauma surgeon to the stand as testimony began Monday morning.
Lexington Fire Department paramedic Alexander Young said he was called to the scene shortly after police and found what appeared to be a gunshot wound in Barber’s back. Barber was immediately deemed a “load and go” after a quick assessment done by paramedics, and the gunshot wound was covered with a bandage to stop bleeding.
When Barber arrived at University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital, he was immediately taken into surgery at UK’s trauma department.
According to UK trauma surgeon Dr. Tyler Koestner, the team did an immediate evaluation on Barber, and found a gunshot to the back. The team continued to work on Barber, Koestner said, but shortly after their work began, Barber was deemed “unsurvivable.” Operations ceased.
This story was originally published January 23, 2023 at 9:22 AM.
