On a cold December day in Buffalo, New York, the body of a young man, Jabril D. Harper, was discovered in Roosevelt Park. It was December 16, 2009, and an investigation into his death would unravel a complex story of violence and betrayal. An autopsy would later confirm that Harper had been shot twice in the head, a brutal end to a life cut short. The male victim's death was quickly ruled a homicide, launching a lengthy and challenging investigation for the Buffalo Police Department.
In the course of their inquiries, investigators received a tip from a man named Jonathan Singletary. In a sworn statement given on January 11, 2010, Singletary claimed that two men, Rodshaun Black and Ernest Green, had confessed to robbing and killing Harper in the park after a physical altercation. Singletary further alleged that Black admitted the murder was a contract killing, carried out for a payment of $10,000. This information provided a significant lead for law enforcement, pointing them toward potential suspects and a motive.
Based on the investigation, which included Singletary's initial testimony, Ernest Green was arrested and charged in March 2012 with robbery affecting interstate commerce in connection with Harper's death. The charges against Green and his alleged accomplice, Rodshaun Black, would later be expanded to include kidnapping and firearm offenses. The case against the two men proceeded to a federal trial, where the prosecution relied on the information provided by witnesses like Singletary. However, the legal proceedings were fraught with complications. The trial, which began in late 2017, concluded with a hung jury on the counts related to Jabril Harper's murder, and the defendants were acquitted of other charges. Ultimately, the murder charges were dismissed due to a violation of the defendants' right to a speedy trial. In a final twist, Jonathan Singletary, the witness whose testimony had been a key part of the initial investigation, was later convicted of obstructing an official proceeding for providing false testimony during the trial of Green and Black.
