Missouri Murder Victim’s Family Begins Letter-Writing Campaign to Trial Judge After Jury Verdict – KION546

By BETSY WEBSTER

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KANSAS CITY, Missouri (KCTV– The family of a man killed in Kansas City nearly three years ago are devastated by a jury verdict on Friday.

Earlier this month, Cameron Douglas’ family took to the courthouse to protest a series of delays that have made them wait more than a thousand days for this verdict. They had a Friday in which the jury recommended that her killer serve a sentence of up to six years.

It was January 2019 when Douglas was killed following an argument as he ran to the front porch of his apartment near I-435 and Eastwood Trafficway.

“As he turns to his front steps, that’s when the fatal blow hit him in the back of the neck,” said Bishop Frank Douglas, Jr.

The religious leader, Bishop Frank Douglas, Jr. is Cameron’s father.

“We were just devastated. We were devastated, ”he said of their reaction when they heard the jury’s verdict.

Jason Cook, then 21, was charged with second degree murder. But the jury also had a choice between less serious charges. They found Cook guilty of manslaughter, a reckless but not intentional murder.

“Yesterday was ridiculous,” Cameron Douglas’ sister Bria Douglas said on Saturday. “It was a slap in the face.”

Cameron Douglas was 23. He had just had a baby. She is now almost 3 years old. Her mother, Ma’Lisha Carter, struggled to find her words.

“I feel disrespectful. Completely, ”Carter said. “What am I supposed to tell her when she says I want my dad?” “

Now they are starting a letter-writing campaign to the judge, urging him to quote “overturn the verdict” and reject the jury-recommended sentence, which is no more than six years. The local president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), a leading civil rights organization, supports the family in their efforts.

They say 11 of the 12 jurors were white and argue that this had an impact on their perception of crime in the urban core.

“The prosecutor looked at this white jury and they said, ‘What is a life worth?’ », Said Jaron Greathouse, brother of Cameron Douglas. “And that’s what they thought my brother’s life was worth.”

“We are defying all the jurors in this case who have decided that the life of Cameron Douglas is worth six years looking in the mirror,” said Dr. Vernon Howard, president of the SCLC Greater Kansas City chapter. “It is unacceptable that there are 11 white jurors and one black juror in an urban core case involving black families.”

There was no filing announcement or formal appeal, just the letter writing campaign.

Legal experts verified by KCTV5 say trial judges have some discretion over sentencing but cannot overturn a verdict.

Douglas, Jr. said he knew it was far away, but he had to try something.

“They could tell me tomorrow that is not an option,” he said of the letters. “We can still send them.

Shortly after the verdict, Jackson County District Attorney Jean Peters Baker sent a statement, part of which reads:

Cameron Douglas’ family is devastated by today’s verdict. They were hoping for a murder conviction as recommended by the prosecutor and they are shocked at the recommended sentence.

“We share the disappointment of our victim’s family,” Baker said. “But it is our justice system and we support it greatly even when it disappoints us. We are also proud of the way our prosecutors and staff fought for this family. “

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