Missouri teen sentenced to 26 years in prison for shooting girl during $20 marijuana deal
A 17-year-old Kansas City, North, teen was sentenced to 26 years in prison in the shooting of another teen in the head over $20 worth of marijuana at a Riverside park, according to the Platte County Prosecutor’s Office.
Platte County Judge Thomas Fincham handed down the sentence Wednesday to Jay Palmer, who was 15 years old at the time of the shooting and was certified to stand trial as an adult.
A Platte County jury found Palmer guilty of second-degree assault, stealing and two counts of armed criminal action after a seven-day trial in May. The jury recommended a prison sentence of 14 to 26 years.
On Dec. 30, 2020, Palmer arranged through a series of text messages to buy $20 of marijuana from the 17-year-old girl at Homestead Park in Riverside. Once there, there was a disagreement over the method of payment. When the girl tried to get the marijuana back, Palmer shot her in the head.
Several callers heard the gunshot and saw the girl lying in a pool of blood and called 911. Riverside police and firefighters responded to the park and found the girl with a gunshot wound above her left eye.
The girl, who spent several months in the hospital recovering, remains partially paralyzed and blind in one eye. She also can only communicate using one or two-word sentences, according to the prosecutor’s office.
During the trial, Palmer claimed the girl attacked him when she tried to get the marijuana back. He said the gun accidentally went off after he pulled it out, according to the prosecutor’s office.
“This is a truly tragic case,” said Platte County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Zahnd. “One teenager will live with serious brain injuries for the rest of her life, and another will spend many years in prison. And it was all over $20 worth of marijuana. Terrible choices to use a gun during a crime comes with terrible results.”
This story was originally published October 20, 2022 at 4:01 PM.
