A Springfield man accused of killing another man in a convenience store along South Grand Avenue in 2018 was found guilty of first-degree murder Tuesday following a brief bench trial.
Keshon L. McClinton, 23, was also found guilty in Sangamon County Circuit Court aggravated discharge of a firearm for his role in the death of Javonne Harris, 22, on March 9, 2018 in the FasMart convenience store in the 400 block of South Grand Avenue East.
McClinton was accused of shooting Harris following a dispute with Harris’ brother, Tyrell, that also involved McClinton’s uncle and one of his friends.
Chief Sangamon County Circuit Judge John Madonia said that the evidence presented at trial clearly showed that McClinton committed murder that evening in the convenience store. While McClinton’s attorney, Mark Wykoff, attempted to show that he was acting in self-defense at the moment the shooting occurred, Madonia disagreed, stating that he found no evidence that Harris provoked McClinton into shooting him and that no imminent threat of harm existed when McClinton fired the gun that killed Harris.
Sentencing in the case is scheduled for June 23 at 9 a.m. McClinton is facing 45 years to life in prison as a result of the conviction.
After hearing the county’s arguments in the case Monday, McClinton took the stand for questioning Tuesday as the defense attempted to prove that he acted in self-defense when he shot at Harris. McClinton said that he was afraid as the incident unfolded, with Tyrell telling him that he “always keeps that .40 (caliber pistol), shorty.”
While he didn’t fire at Tyrell, he did end up firing two shots in the direction of Javonne, with the second one killing him. It was that second shot that Wykoff felt made the case much more problematic for his client, as the facts would have been different without Harris’ death.
First Assistant State’s Attorney Derek Dion said that McClinton saying he didn’t see a weapon on either Tyrell or Javonne meant that any kind of imminent threat was out of the question. He believed the circumstances of the case, where McClinton shot Javonne in the back of the head as he was running out of the store, warranted the first-degree murder charges.
Wykoff said following the hearing that he was disappointed, but respected Madonia’s decision in this matter. He felt his client didn’t have any intent to kill that evening and was provoked following his uncle being punched in the face by Tyrell, more along the lines of a second-degree murder charge instead. As for what he expects at the June 23 sentencing, Wykoff put the ball in the hands of Madonia, saying that it was premature for any speculation.
Sangamon County State’s Attorney Dan Wright said following the verdict that his team – led by Dion and Assistant State’s Attorney Kaylan Beard – was able to prove McClinton’s guilt, saying that he will spend decades in prison as a result of his crime.
“There are never sufficient words to express the tragedy of a life lost to senseless gun violence,” Wright said. “Despite the failure to appear by a material witness in this case, the defendant’s guilt was otherwise proven beyond a reasonable doubt and he will spend many decades behind bars as a result.”