A fistfight in a park led to a fatal shooting. Now a Riviera Beach woman is headed to prison.

Julius Whigham II, Palm Beach Post
·2 min read
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WEST PALM BEACH — A judge has sentenced a Riviera Beach woman to 20 years in prison in the shooting death of another woman in 2022.

Jasmine Nelson, 34, pleaded to a lesser charge of manslaughter in the death of Cartishe Gibbs during a hearing Tuesday before Circuit Judge Sarah Willis, who also ordered that 10 years of probation follow Nelson's prison sentence.

Prosecutors originally had charged Nelson with second-degree murder after West Palm Beach police alleged she shot and killed Gibbs, 26, during a fight on the evening of March 14, 2022, at Echo Lake Park in West Palm Beach, which is off Congress Avenue near Bak Middle School of the Arts.

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Nelson told investigators that her sister planned to fight Gibbs that evening and said she brought the weapon in order to ensure that the fight was fair.

Videos of the altercation posted to social media showed Nelson swing a gun at Gibbs in an attempt to hit her with its muzzle. Instead she fired a bullet through Gibbs' neck as she struck her.

Nelson fled after the shooting but later met detectives at a restaurant on Okeechobee Boulevard near Military Trail before being taken into custody.

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During Tuesday's hearing, she addressed the court expressing remorse for her actions. Members of Gibbs' family also spoke.

"It's a tragic situation all around. The situation that occurred was a tragic accident," Brian Pakett, Nelson's attorney, said Wednesday. "It was a very emotional case on both sides."

On Tuesday, Willis issued an order requesting that the state Department of Corrections house Nelson in a South Florida facility as close to Palm Beach County as possible. She cited medical hardships for Nelson's mother and the difficulty for her to travel.

Julius Whigham II is a criminal justice and public safety reporter for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him atjwhigham@pbpost.com and follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter at@JuliusWhigham. Help support our work:Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: South Florida woman sentenced after fistfight turned into fatal shooting