Murder Defendant Seeks to Withdraw Guilty Plea

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A defendant who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder is seeking to withdraw his guilty plea.

In February 2020, 21-year-old Elijah Jarmon pleaded guilty to second-degree murder while armed in relation to the shooting of 18-year-old Taquan Pinkney. Pinkney was shot on the 2000 block of Stanton Road, SE on Sept. 9, 2018.

According to court documents, the plea deal involved an agreed upon sentence of 12 years in prison.

“Mr. Jarmon is not asking to walk out of the courtroom, just to have his day in court,” defense attorney Kevann Gardner said.

During the Nov. 19 hearing, Gardner argued that the evidence against Jarmon is weak. He said that, while there is a video of his client at the scene of the shooting, there is no video of him firing a weapon. He also alleged that Jarmon was pressured by his family and former attorney to take the plea agreement, adding that his client’s young age at the time made him especially susceptible to this pressure.

Gardner has spoken with Jarmon’s former attorney, who he said had said that Jarmon expressed his desire to withdraw his plea the day after it was made.

The prosecution was given the opportunity to respond. They argued that they are no longer litigating the facts in this case, because they were decided when the defendant signed the proffer. They also called Gardner’s assertions “unsupported” since no testimony or evidence was presented to back up the claims, but rather just mentioned.

Judge Milton Lee set a hearing for Dec. 22 to rule on the motion.

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