Palm Bay teen changes mind, pleads no contest to slayings of 2 at 'The Compound'
One of the co-defendants charged in the Christmas Day 2022 shooting deaths of two teens in Palm Bay's abandoned Compound development entered a no contest plea on Wednesday.
The plea potentially will give Jamarcus Simpson, 18, much less time under Florida's Youthful Offender statute than the 25-years-to-life sentence he would have gotten if convicted. It came three days into jury selection for the murder trial in the courtroom of Brevard Circuit Judge Steve Henderson at the Moore Justice Center.
The deal calls for the sentence to be capped at 20 years in prison, at the judge's discretion. It was the same deal the teen rejected last Friday, just days before jury selection was to begin.
"No contest," said Simpson, dressed in a black suit as he stood at the podium with his attorneys.
"Do you believe this no contest plea is in your best interest?" asked Judge Henderson, as family members of one of the two slain teens looked on from the courtroom gallery.
More: Quest for justice drove Palm Bay police investigation into teen killings at The Compound
"Yes," the teen said, his hands in his pockets as he looked straight at the judge.
"I accept your plea," Henderson said.
Simpson and his co-defendant, Juan Shuren, 17, were both charged with premeditated murder in the first degree in connection with the Dec. 25, 2022, shooting deaths of Jeremiah Brown, 14, and Travon Anthony, 16. Both Simpson and Shuren — who are cousins and have the same grandmother — were indicted by the grand jury in January. Simpson was 17 at the time of the shootings, which took placed in the vacant, abandoned development in Palm Bay called The Compound.
Chrisel Brown, Jeremiah's mother, attended the court hearing and spoke.
"I honestly am at a loss for words. This is not justice. This is a joke," Brown said later, pointing out that Simpson would serve only 20 years with the plea offered by the state.
The double slayings put on display concerns about youth and gun violence in south Brevard, with detectives working to secure forensic evidence in a case where defendants laid blame for the killings on each other and prompted fears of retaliation across Melbourne and Palm Bay.
Palm Bay police detectives worked on the case for 13 months, with forensic experts, the medical examiner's office and others.
More: Who were the victims of Palm Bay Compound killings? Who are those arrested in connection?
Christopher Beres, the defense attorney representing Simpson, said his client suffered a mental disability brought on by a motorcycle crash nearly three years before. He added that Simpson had been declared incompetent in other cases and had to be placed in a program on those previous charges. He said he was disappointed with the plea, which he believes came about as prosecutors changed plans to seek to impanel a six-member jury instead of 12.
Still, Beres said, he respected Simpson's decision.
"In my opinion, the state cannot prove their case ... or any of the charges. But again, it's not my decision. I can't make the choice for him," Beres said.
"He didn't shoot those boys ... The plea was the product of prosecutorial vindictiveness. In retaliation for Jamarcus declining the State's initial plea offer, once the trial had begun the state filed a motion for a six-member jury panel, which the judge granted. It's a very sad situation for everyone. Everyone will agree to that."
A hearing on the sentencing will take place April 9 in Henderson's courtroom. A court date for co-defendant Shuren has not been set.
J.D. Gallop is a criminal justice/breaking news reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Gallop at 321-917-4641 or jgallop@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @JDGallop.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Palm Bay teen changes mind, pleads no contest to slayings at Compound
