A California man and member of the West Side Crips will spend the rest of his life behind bars for killing a 5-year-old.
A Kern County judge handed Jonathan Knight a life term without the possibility of parole for the shooting death of Kayson Guyton. After a four-week trial, Knight was found guilty and convicted of murder, attempted murder, and 9 other charges.
On Feb. 23, 2017, Knight and his cousin and co-defendant Jeremy King spotted Dayvon Vercher, an alleged member of the East Side Crips, a rival street gang, at the Valley Plaza Mall in Bakersfield. At the time, Versher drove around with Kayson and his 7-year-old brother Bryan Guyton Jr. in the backseat. Soon, a drive-by shootout ensued, with King reportedly driving and Knight shooting at Versher, fatally striking Kayson and Bryan in the leg. However, the victim’s brother survived the ordeal, according to Bakersfield Now.
The fatal incident stemmed from an earlier confrontation between both parties.
Two years later, Knight was arrested while King accepted a plea bargain to serve six years in prison for a manslaughter charge in exchange for testifying against his cousin.
Knight’s defense lawyer, Tim Hennessy, argued that King’s testimony was false due to the benefits of the plea deal with the prosecutor’s office.
"Try to battle or deter or stop gang violence from our side, when one guy gets the book thrown at him and the other guy walks. My concern is what that sends to the community as to how gang violence is being treated," said Hennessy reported 23 ABC.
The judge sentenced the defendant to a combined 262 years for the other charges in addition to the life sentence.
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