Mississippi Coast teen facing murder charge gets bond reduced by $750,000. Here is why
A judge reduced the bond for a 14-year-old Gulfport teen charged with second-degree murder in the September shooting death of a Harrison County High School student.
Justice Court Judge Theressia A. Lyons heard evidence in the case against Javione D. Martin on Wednesday before reducing his bond on a second-degree murder charge from $1 million to $250,000.
Martin is accused in the Sept. 1 shooting death of Charlie Fairley, 16.
At the hearing, the judge found evidence to bind the case to a grand jury for indictment, but had reservations about the high bond initially set in the case based on evidence presented in Harrison County Justice Court.
Harrison County prosecuting attorney Herman Cox asked the judge to keep the $1 million bond in place.
Was money stolen?
According to testimony, the shooting happened after Fairley, along with three of his friends, went to a home where Martin was visiting a friend on Robindale Road.
Martin, an investigator said, and Fairley got into an argument outside over allegations that Martin had stolen some money from Fairley’s uncle.
When Gulfport police later responded to the scene, they found Fairley in the middle of Robindale Road with a gunshot wound to the abdomen. He died a short time later at an Alabama hospital.
After his arrest, Martin told investigators he had gotten the murder weapon — a .9 mm silver and black handgun — from a friend the day before the shooting.
According to Martin’s attorney, Lauren Hillary, Martin claimed he had been jumped several times in the neighborhood before he got the gun.
Victim had no weapon
The shooting happened, the investigator said, after Fairley went to multiple homes, where he and Martin argued over the alleged stolen money.
Martin, the investigator said, claimed he pulled out his handgun during the initial confrontation to try to get Fairley to get away from him, but Martin ended up hitting Fairley in the face with the gun.
Fairley was not armed.
After the first confrontation, Martin left and went to another home on Robindale Road, where Fairley followed along with his friends.
This time, Fairley and Martin ended up arguing again until it turned into a physical fight, and Martin fired his gun, ultimately killing Fairley.
After his arrest, Martin told police he didn’t realize he had his finger on the trigger of the gun when it fired.
Martin’s attorney pointed out that Fairley had been the aggressor each time he confronted Martin.
After the shooting happened, Martin said he ran off at first, dropping the gun he had along the way, but then turned around and ran back to the scene to see if he could render any aid to Fairley.
‘A horrible tragedy’
Martin’s attorney, Lauren Hillary, pointed out during questioning that Martin had tried repeatedly to get away from Fairley before the shooting happened.
In addition, Hillary said Martin was fairly new to the neighborhood, having moved there with his siblings to live with their grandmother.
Hillary said that since they had moved in, Martin had been jumped several times by those involved in the case.
“This is a horrible tragedy,” Hillary said. “This is a super-sad situation that I wish had not happened, and Javione wishes had not happened.”
But, she said, “This is a situation where Javione is minding his own business when the victim rolls up with his three friends, and they are there to jump him, or they are there to hurt him.”
Hillary argued that her client tried repeatedly to get away from Fairley and his friends before the shooting.
The attorney asked the judge to consider reducing the charge of second-degree murder based on the evidence available, which the judge declined.
In addition, Hillary asked for a bond that would give Javione’s family a chance to bail him out of jail before grand jury action.
Hillary pointed out Martin’s grandmother had to move them due to threats since the shooting and that the family didn’t have enough money for a $1 million bond.
Cox argued the bond should remain as it is, saying a signal needs to be sent to juveniles that carrying guns is not the answer.
‘They kept following him’
The judge agreed to reduce the bond to $150,000 because Martin cooperated with investigators, attempted to render aid to the victim, showed remorse for the shooting, and had no prior criminal history.
“I will say this: it appears in this case, Mr. Martin was at every turn trying to get away from this fight or trying to avoid it, and they kept following him,” Lyons said.
“I appreciate the fact that he is just 14 years old,” she said. “I appreciate the fact that they are being raised by their grandmother.”
At the same time, the judge said prosecuting attorney Herman Cox was right when he suggested that a high bond is needed to send a message to other juveniles to think twice before carrying a gun and committing a crime.
This story was originally published September 27, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
