On a late summer day in Saginaw, Michigan, 15-year-old Keyshawn Jamar Abraham was riding his bicycle near Ray Street and Tubman on the city's southeast side. It was September 4, 2016, and the young Black/African American male was talking on his cellphone. A silver or white car approached, and the driver, Jermaine Donell Horrison, engaged Keyshawn in a brief verbal exchange. Horrison then produced a revolver, reached out of the car window, and shot the teenager in the abdomen.
First responders found Keyshawn critically wounded. He was able to give a brief description of the shooter as a Black male with dreadlocks in a silver vehicle before he stopped cooperating and was rushed to the hospital. He was later transferred to the University of Michigan Medical Center, where he fought for his life for five days before succumbing to his injuries on September 9, 2016.
The investigation into the senseless killing led police to Jermaine Donell Horrison after two of his fellow gang members independently identified him as the shooter. Horrison was subsequently arrested and charged with first-degree premeditated murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
During the trial, testimony revealed the shockingly trivial nature of the motive. Horrison, who was driving a borrowed car with a passenger, had asked Keyshawn who he was talking to on the phone and to pass along a message. What exactly was said in the brief moments that followed remains somewhat unclear, but it was enough for Horrison to take a life. The passenger in Horrison's car, Demetrius Frierson, and another associate, Desmon Reynolds, both testified against him. The jury found Jermaine Donell Horrison guilty of first-degree premeditated murder and felony-firearm. He was sentenced to life in prison for the murder, with an additional two years for the firearm charge. At his sentencing, Keyshawn's mother delivered a heart-wrenching impact statement, expressing the profound and devastating loss her family has endured.
