Black Gunman Gets Life for Killing White Father During a Verbal Dispute

PNJ
January 5, 2015

Inside and outside a Pensacola courtroom Friday, two families wept for the lost lives of two young men.

The family of Michael Harris wept tears of relief that justice had been done in slaying of the father of two from Milton. The family of Damarcus Jenkins cried tears of grief for the 22-year-old who will spend life in prison for Harris’ murder.

Jenkins was sentenced Friday for fatally shooting Harris during a 2013 altercation on Pensacola Beach. Jenkins came upon Harris and Harris’ girlfriend while they were quarreling near the Casino Beach parking lot.

When Jenkins tried to break up the altercation, he and Harris reportedly got into a verbal dispute. Witnesses said Jenkins produced a weapon and shot Harris multiple times, including at least one shot while Harris was on the ground.

An Escambia County jury found Jenkins guilty of second-degree murder in December, and during Friday’s sentencing, Circuit Judge E.P. Nickinson opted for a sentence well above Jenkins’ mandatory minimum of 25 years.

“If there was some argument that he was trying to help a young woman who was being beaten by someone, there was a sheriff’s substation right there in earshot. … A couple of moments of reflection would have stopped this,” Nickinson said.

Jenkins’ attorney, Gene Mitchell, asked Nickinson to consider mitigating factors such as the fact that both men were highly intoxicated and that Jenkins thought he was acting in self defense.

However, Harris’ family asked in no uncertain terms that Jenkins receive a life sentence.

“His children will never feel their father’s love again,” said Lisa Nelson, Harris’ mother. “I can’t imagine how much torment that causes them, but I know the torment it causes me. My family and I, Michael’s friends, we’re all sentenced to a lifetime already.”

Jenkins was on probation at the time of the shooting and was also sentenced to three concurrent years in prison for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He also has a separate case pending for violation of probation.