JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Two men charged in the tragic shooting death of 13-year-old Prince Holland will be back in court Friday for a hearing that could impact their murder trial.
The judge is expected to hear arguments about how the court will manage having two juries — one for each defendant — and whether rap videos can be used as evidence.
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 previously ordered that Garard and Johnson would have two separate juries. Now, the court must address how it plans to manage the dual-jury trial.
Also, the defense is expected to continue to push back against rap videos being used as evidence. Defense attorneys say those videos are unfair, while prosecutors argue they prove a connection between the two suspects.
In a previous hearing, the state argued for the admission of three YouTube videos into evidence to show the connection between Garard and Johnson, while the men’s defense attorneys argued the videos could be prejudicial to the jury.
Eventually, Judge Jeb Branham ruled that prosecutors can show as much of the videos as they need to demonstrate to the jury that the two men knew each other.
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.”
In a 2023 news conference, Sheriff T.K. Waters said that the shooting was linked to “two rival street groups.”
Now, Garard’s attorneys are renewing their objection to the videos being admitted as evidence, arguing that they are not disputing that the men know each other, Garard 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.
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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 their football coach, who was driving, were also hit.
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.