A Boynton Beach man killed in anger over a fight. Now he will serve life in prison.
WEST PALM BEACH — A jury has found a Boynton Beach man guilty of first-degree murder in the April 2019 shooting death of another man in a park along Gateway Boulevard.
Its March 2 decision marked the second time in the past 20 years that a court has found Morley Kent guilty in a fatal shooting in Palm Beach County, following a plea to manslaughter in a woman's 2005 death.
Circuit Judge Scott Suskauer immediately imposed a life sentence in the new case. Kent was accused of killing 42-year-old Jermaine Orr on the night of April 6, 2019, at the Kiwanis/Sierra Clubs Park in Boynton Beach.
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Gunman fired second time after first shot missed, police said
City police said Kent, now 45, confessed within 24 hours of killing Orr, telling officers he was angry about an earlier fight with Orr and couldn't let it go. The men fought again at the park and Kent said he fired two shots at Orr, the second shot coming after he missed Orr with the first.
Kent's conviction and sentencing occurred seven years to the day that he was released from state prison after serving time in his previous case. In November 2007, he pleaded guilty to manslaughter with a firearm, more than a year after being found incompetent to stand trial in the August 2005 shooting death of Melinda Grimsley in Riviera Beach.
Investigators in that case said Kent had stalked Grimsley and made threats against her after she rejected his advances.
Kent initially was sentenced to just over three years in prison and probation, but was re-sentenced to 10 years in 2009 after violating his probation.
Jurors decided only murder charge after gunman pleaded to other counts
In the new proceeding before Suskauer, jurors determined whether Kent was guilty of murder.
Kent already had taken a best interest plea on one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office dropped a charge of felony possession of ammunition.
Susakauer imposed a sentence of five years on the firearm possession charge with a mandatory minimum of three years, and he ordered that the sentence be served concurrently with Kent's life sentence.
Julius Whigham II is a criminal justice and public safety reporter for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at jwhigham@pbpost.com and follow him on Twitter at @JuliusWhigham. Help support our work: Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Jury convicts Boynton Beach man in 2019 homicide at park
