The stress of life can impact people in various ways.
Pensacola man Jaylen Prude said his stress caused him to fatally shoot his own father.
Prude, the 26-year-old charged with the second-degree murder of his father, Aries Prude, sat in an Escambia County court room Wednesday as a panel of jurors listened to the brief recording of his interview with investigators following his father’s death in June 2024.
“Tell us what happened, son. Now is the time to be honest,” Lt. Jason Barnes asked Prude during his 2024 interview played during the June 3 trial.
“I just shot him,” Prude replied.
When asked why he shot his father, Prude responded, “I was stressed out.”
Prude’s father was found by an air conditioning service technician on June 3, 2024, lying in his living room in a pool of his own blood. He had been shot at least four times, according to investigators and crime scene technicians, who found four shell casings in the home.
Although the recorded interview could not be played to the jury in its entirety due to admissibility issues, the panel did hear Barnes’ speculation as to why he thought Prude may have been stressed and allegedly killed his father.
“I think because your mom is in the hospital, and you’ve had a hard time finding direction in your life and taking care of your brother who I take it has slow mental capabilities, you know, you’re a young kid,” Barnes said during the interview. “You ain’t got no money, no job right now and what happened with your dad, (expletive) got bad, and it got out of control.”
Despite recorded evidence of Prude confessing he shot his father out of stress, his attorney Bonnie Staples contends that the jury will likely find reasonable doubt in the state’s case from DNA collected at the scene.
“I expect you’ll hear evidence that Jaylen’s DNA was on the firearm, but I expect you’ll also hear that Aries’ DNA was on the firearm,” Staples told the jury during trial. “You’re also going to hear evidence that Mr. Jaylen Prude’s DNA was not found on the magazine of the firearm, was not on the ammunition of the firearm; you’re going to hear evidence that Jaylen’s fingerprints were not on the magazine of the firearm, (and) Jaylen’s fingerprints were not found on the ammunition.”
She also said that even though Prude’s DNA was found on multiple items inside his father’s home, Staples argued it’s more than reasonable for his DNA to be found in Aries’ home since they would visit one another from time to time.
Aries’ girlfriend, Angelisa Stallworth, confirmed from the witness stand that the two would see each other, saying she would often leave them alone to have “father-son time.”
“Mr. Prude sits here today an innocent man,” Staples told the jury during trial. “I ask you to pay particular attention to the lack of the state’s evidence demonstrating any sort of depraved mind. At the end of the trial, you will find reasonable doubt throughout the state’s case, which is why we’re asking you for a verdict of not guilty.”
Prude’s trial is scheduled for two days. If convicted as charged, he faces up to life in a Florida prison.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: ‘I just shot him’; Pensacola man says stress led to him killing father
Reporting by Benjamin Johnson, Pensacola News Journal / Pensacola News Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Benjamin Johnson, Pensacola News Journal | USA TODAY Network
