A jury on June 18 found Blayze Jurien White guilty of first-degree murder in the shooting death of a man who was playing video games inside his home.
After the verdict was announced, the judge dismissed the jury and sentenced White to life in prison. The state was not seeking the death penalty. White already is serving a 60-year prison term for violation of probation. The shooting death occurred while White was on probation.
White, 23, told the court he did not want jurors to consider any lesser charges for him, such as second-degree murder or manslaughter.
Derrick “DJ” Brown was shot and killed the night of June 23, 2024, while playing video games at his residence, located in the 2800 block of Northeast Eighth Terrace. He was 24. A doctor from the Medical Examiner’s Office testified at trial that Brown had been shot twice in the head.
Police arrested White, 19-year-old Zayshawn Lee Lamar Webb and Frederick Bernard Lowe, 22. Presently, Lowe is serving time in prison for multiple convictions such as drug trafficking, robbery and aggravated assault. Records show Lowe’s released date is scheduled for June 2039.
White was the first of the three co-defendants to stand trial.
Here’s what we know:
How big was the jury? Six men and six women. There had been two alternates, but one was released on June 17 after he told the court he had a financial hardship that made it difficult for him to continue serving.
How long was the trial? Three days. Opening statements began June 16 and closing was June 18.
Is anyone allowed to sit in on the deliberations? No. Jurors are told they alone should decide the case. Their phones and electronic devices are taken while they are in court.
How many pieces of evidence were entered? 70. All of the evidence was from prosecutors.
How long did the jury deliberate? Three hours. The remaining alternate was let go at 10 a.m. and jurors went to the back at 10:03 a.m. They told a bailiff at 1:03 p.m. that they had made up their minds.
Who were the attorneys and the judge? The judge was Retired Senior Judge Willard Pope. Representing White was Jonathan Mills. Prosecuting the case were Assistant State Attorneys Amy Berndt and Rich Buxman.
Who made the closing argument for the state? Berndt.
What did she say? Berndt told the court Brown’s death was “senseless,” and it was “calculated and cold-blooded.”
She said the co-defendants – White, Webb and Lowe – waited 27 minutes in a car before making their way to a window by the victim’s residence. Berndt said 18 rounds were fired from two Glock handguns that were modified to be automatic. The shots were fired at Brown’s head.
She said the shooters didn’t care that families, including children, were in the residence. Earlier testimony established that bullets struck multiple items in Brown’s residence, and next door.
The prosecutor said the shooting wasn’t for money or self-defense. Rather, she said, the goal was to kill Brown.
She called the action premeditated. She said the co-defendants had enough time to think about what they planned to do.
Berndt said White rented the vehicle that the co-defendants used one day before the shooting. The vehicle was returned a day after the shooting, she said.
The motive? Berndt said it was retaliation for the shooting death of Lezarius Graham, a 17-year-old who was killed in June 2023.
She said Brown was loosely connected to an area gang that was in conflict with White’s gang. Jurors saw pictures of White’s gang tattoos. He had markings of Lezarius on his body, the prosecutor said.
Berndt said White’s DNA was found on one of the two firearms used in the shooting. She said he continually lied about his involvement in Brown’s death.
What about the defense? In his closing argument, defense attorney Mills told the court that the prosecution did not prove his client was responsible for Brown’s death. He said there were no eyewitnesses to the shooting. No one can say White was involved.
White did not testify. No one from his family was in court for the trial. The victim’s family and friends sat behind the prosecutors’ table during the trial.
Contact Austin L. Miller at austin.miller@starbanner.com
This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: Jury finds Ocala man guilty of murder. Life prison sentence imposed.
Reporting by Austin L. Miller, Ocala Star-Banner / Ocala Star-Banner
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Austin L. Miller, Ocala Star-Banner | USA TODAY Network
