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An 18-year-old man was found guilty Monday of murdering an Iraqi immigrant who had gone outside to enjoy his first glimpse of snow.
Nykerion Nealon was convicted in the shooting death of Ahmed Al-Jumaili after the jury deliberated about two hours, WFAA-TV reported.
After a surprise snow in March 2015, Al-Jumaili was in the parking lot of the Walnut Bend apartments taking photos in the snow with his wife and his brother. Al-Jumaili arrived in Dallas after fleeing his native Iraq less than a month prior to his death, and had never seen snow.
Prosecutors say Nealon fired 14 rounds from an AK-47. Al-Jumaili was shot in the chest.
Defense attorney Russell Wilson argued his client was at the Walnut Bend apartments when the shots were fired, but that someone else pulled the trigger.
“They are kids, they wanted to go and not shoot up a parking lot,” Wilson said. “They wanted to shoot a gun in the air — that’s what kids do. Should it happen? No, it shouldn’t. But that doesn’t make it murder.”
Nealon’s defense team said the prosecution’s case was shaky, sloppy, and subpar.
Surveillance video showed Nealon fleeing the scene while holding the weapon, and a friend testified that the then-17-year-old pulled the trigger.
Prosecutors also told the jury Nealon had searched for the punishments for murder in the state of Texas and how to get away with killing someone after the shooting.
The jury will decide Nealon’s fate first thing Tuesday morning. He faces anywhere from 5 to 99 years or life in prison.
Agencies/Canadajournal
