DECATUR, Ga. — A Decatur man has been convicted of shooting his cousin and leaving him to die in May 2017.
The DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office says Jamal Rashad Kerns, now 25, shot his cousin, 18-year-old Keschon Kerns, in the wrist, shoulder and back.
They say Jamal Kerns claimed he found his cousin in their grandfather’s garage with a gun. Jamal Kerns says he slapped the gun out of his cousin’s hands, took it and shot him.
Prosecutors say they believe Keschon Kerns never had the gun.
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After shooting his cousin, prosecutors say Jamal Kerns left his cousin to die in the garage while he went to a hookah bar with his brother.
The boys’ grandfather found Keschon Kerns’ body the next morning. Both Jamal Kerns and his brother claimed to be shocked by his death.
A few weeks later, Jamal Kerns and his friend, Malik Golar, were hanging out in a car outside of Golar’s mother’s home.
Prosecutors say that when Golar told Jamal Kerns he did not believe his alibi in his cousin’s death, Jamal Kerns got his gun and shot Golar in the head. He survived the shooting and told police Jamal Kerns shot him.
Jamal Kerns was arrested and admitted to killing his cousin. Prosecutors say he led police to the murder weapon that he had stashed inside a shoebox in his grandfather’s car.
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On December 3, Jamal Kerns was convicted of malice murder, felony murder, two counts of aggravated assault and two counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. He was sentenced to life in prison plus 25 years.
He is currently being held in the DeKalb County Jail.
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