16 YEAR OLD INDICTED FOR FATAL SHOOTING OF 17 YEAR OLD LINDEN MCKINLEY HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT

Posted on 5/18/2016

Defendant: Dezmond A. Childress

Prosecutor Ron O’Brien said, “A 16 year old now faces a potential 18 years to life sentence in prison following a fist fight that ended in a senseless fatal shooting”.  Prosecutor Ron O’Brien announced today that the Franklin County Grand Jury has returned an indictment against Dezmond A. Childress, age 16, for two counts of Murder with Specification (unclassified felonies), and one count of Carrying a Concealed Weapon (F-4), for a total of three counts, in connection to the December 14, 2015 shooting death of Linden McKinley High School student Jeremiah T’Shaun Harper, age 17, that occurred outside a house on Duxberry Avenue in South Linden.  “If convicted, Childress faces the possibility of serving an 18 years to life sentence.  There are two counts of murder with only one victim because there are different methods to commit the crime of murder and the Prosecutor’s Office typically charges all methods”, O’Brien stated.  Childress will be arraigned on Friday, May 20th at 1:30 pm in courtroom 2B at 345 S. High Street.