Jury finds 14-year-old not guilty in fatal Olathe shooting, attorney says
A jury has found a 14-year-old boy not guilty of murder in the 2019 shooting death of another teen in Olathe, according to his defense attorney.
The teen had been charged with second-degree-murder in Johnson County for the killing of 14-year-old Zavier Mendoza after the early-morning shooting Aug. 8 in the 12500 block of South Constance Street.
Closing statements were heard Wednesday during a trial this week, where the teen’s attorney argued that his client didn’t know the gun was loaded. The Star does not generally name juvenile suspects unless they are moved to adult court.
After deliberating for about three hours, a not-guilty verdict was returned, according to Jerry Merrill, the attorney representing the 14-year-old. Merrill had no comment on the case.
Closing statements
According to testimony, the 14-year-old, who was 13 at the time of the shooting, was with Mendoza and two other teens when the group found a handgun while “car hopping,” or stealing from cars, in an Olathe subdivision.
Surveillance video of the area showed Mendoza removing the gun from a car, according to court records.
Mendoza put the gun’s clip in his pocket, one of the teens told police.
They went back to one of the teen’s home, where they passed the gun around and “played with” it for 20 to 30 minutes according to prosecutors.
During that time, the teens told police, the 13-year-old pointed the unloaded gun at each of them and pulled the trigger.
At some point, prosecutors said, the teen gave the gun back to Mendoza, who put the magazine back into the weapon before handing it back to the 13-year-old.
One of the other teens told police that he did not believe the 13-year-old realized the magazine was in the gun when he “racked the slide” of the gun, pointed it at Mendoza and shot him.
The 13-year-old told police that he had been pointing the gun at the wall when he shot but that Mendoza moved in front of him. He said he did not know the clip was in the gun.
In a closing statement Wednesday, assistant district attorney Don Hymer said the killing occurred during a night of lawlessness by four young men.
He argued that the teen’s actions were reckless and showed extreme indifference to the value of human life.
In his closing statement, defense attorney Merrill argued that his client didn’t know the gun was loaded.
“This wasn’t murder,” Merrill said.
He said there was no evidence that the teen thought the gun was reloaded. The gun wasn’t loaded the last time he had it, Merrill said.
This story was originally published January 15, 2020 at 5:54 PM.
