A jury in Fairfax County, Virginia, is deliberating in the case of a young man who is accused of shooting two people, killing one and blinding the other.
The victim who suffered the fatal shot was a friend of the suspect, while the other man was a complete stranger.
During the trial, prosecutors used the alleged killer’s own words against him to urge jurors to return a first-degree murder verdict.
In court, chilling police video showed the suspect, Jordan Cochran, boasting about shooting two people. It was recorded as police transported Cochran to jail shortly after he was arrested for allegedly killing his 18-year-old friend, Kebbren Leigh-Gaye.
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"I've been geeking to click that joint all day, and I finally killed somebody," he said in the video.
It’s become key evidence in the case, even as Cochran's attorney tried to convince jurors that Cochran, then 20, fired in self-defense when he killed Leigh-Gaye on Jan. 8, 2022.
But prosecutors say Cochran's comment shows that the crime was premeditated, with prosecutor Stephen Eubank telling jurors, "Jordan Cochran was looking for a reason to use that gun and within course of a half-hour, he found two of them."
Testimony during the trial revealed that Cochran and Leigh-Gaye got into a fistfight over allegations of stolen shoes at a bus stop along Route 1 in the Hybla Valley area. But the prosecutor says the fight was over and the two had separated when Cochran pulled out the gun and fired one fatal shot.
A witness says he then grabbed the shoes Leigh-Gaye was wearing, as well as his wallet and phone. Then, about 20 minutes later, at a nearby 7-Eleven, authorities say Cochran fired the shot that blinded a complete stranger after that man and his girlfriend refused to give Cochran a ride.
Cochran’s defense attorney told jurors his client acted in self-defense because he was afraid after the beating, arguing: "Without malice, there is no murder … When you’ve been beat up in a bus stop by a guy you thought was your friend, your mind is not in a state of reason."
But the prosecutor pushed back, saying, "A reasonable person does not bring out a gun just because they lost a fistfight."
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Among the charges the jury can consider for the fatal shooting are first- or second-degree murder, or voluntary manslaughter -- or not guilty if they believe Cochran acted in self-defense.
Cochran also faces a charge of aggravated malicious wounding for the shooting that blinded the victim at the 7-Eleven.
