A Virginia jury has acquitted a man in the 2021 shooting death of a 17-year-old outside a high school basketball game.
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A Newport News Circuit Court jury took about 50 minutes last week to find Demari Batten, now 20, not guilty of manslaughter in Judge Dunham's death, the Daily Press reported.
A Virginia jury acquitted Demari Batten of murder charges.
The shooting occurred on Dec. 14, 2021, as fans were leaving a game between Menchville High School and Woodside High School. Batten, who was 18 at the time, testified that he was riding in his friend's car when Dunham and other teens attacked him. Grab his gun. Batten said Dunham, wearing a ski mask, opened the driver's side door and approached the vehicle when he fired in self-defense.
“I would characterize this as a mob assault,” Batten's lawyer, Mario Lorello, said after the acquittal. “He has always stood by the fact that he believed his life was in danger and that serious bodily harm could result.”
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At last week's retrial, Batten was charged only with manslaughter. He was found guilty of three firearms charges in a 2022 trial, but the jury deadlocked on manslaughter. No sentencing date has been set for these charges, and Mr. Batten remains in custody.
