Jury convicts Da'quavion Snowden of murdering Pensacola football star Ladarius Clardy

Two years after standout Kennesaw State and former Pine Forest quarterback Ladarius "LD" Clardy was fatally shot 14 times in a hail of 58 bullets on July 1, 2021, one of his killers has been brought to justice.

After deliberating for less than an hour, a panel of 12 jurors returned to the courtroom Thursday where the clerk announced 23-year-old Da'quavion Snowden was guilty of the first-degree premeditated murder of Clardy and the attempted first-degree premeditated murder of Clardy's friend Eric Young.

Once Circuit Judge John Simon excused the jury, Snowden was immediately sentenced to life in prison for the murder, and an additional 30-year sentence for the attempted murder to be served consecutive to his life sentence.

"We'll leave this courtroom today, and you'll have your life," Simon told Snowden. "Everyone here knows the tragedy that occurred, and the fact that his parents will never get to see him again, and you helped in taking him off this earth."

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Snowden was the self-proclaimed driver of a black Ford Fusion sedan that followed Clardy and Young after they left a dice game with friends. Prosecutor Trey Myers said when Snowden caught up to them, Snowden's brother, Amos, and his cousin Kobie Jenkins began firing bullets into Clardy's vehicle, but Clardy was not the target.

"This was a hit job," Myers told the jury before they began to deliberate. "They just got the wrong guy."

Myers said the men thought they were killing Kaderrick Teemer who allegedly had "a hit" put out on him and was allegedly at the dice game the night Clardy died. Teemer was fatally shot one year later on Oct. 1, 2022, by still-to-be-found assailants during a middle school football game.

The "smoking gun" in the case seemed to be Snowden's testimony itself. While he chose not to testify during his trial, Myers played hours of interview footage between Escambia County Sheriff's Office investigators and Snowden recorded in September 2021.

During the interview with multiple investigators, Snowden said he was driving the car with his brother, Amos Snowden, and Kobie Jenkins when Clardy died from his gunshot wounds. The problem for Snowden came when he said he didn't think he could be charged with murder if he was only the driver.

"I didn't have a gun. I just drove the car," Da'quavion Snowden said during the interview. "I don't understand why they can charge me with murder. I don't want to be charged with murder. I'll be charged with accessory or driving the car, but I didn't shoot nobody."

Despite Myers showing the jury hours of Da'quavion Snowden's interview footage from his 2021 arrest with Escambia County Sheriff's Office investigators, his attorney Jasmine Green told the jury that her client's statements were not voluntarily made.

"He asked to speak with an attorney, and no attorney was provided to him before or during questioning," Green told the jury. "He made a statement in the interview room and said, 'I want an attorney and you're still questioning me.'"

Green also noted the time her client sat in the interview room without food and a single bottle of Coca-Cola. The time-stamped video shows his interview began with the ECSO around 11 a.m., but one of the investigators testified Da'quavion Snowden left the interview around 11 p.m.

Before handing down a life sentenced to Snowden, Simon reiterated the tragedy of Clardy's death.

"I sat over the trial and, frankly, this is one of the most senseless crimes I've seen sitting on the bench," Simon said. "You know, the thing (about) Mr. Clardy and Mr. Young is they were just going home, and to be involved in this in the fashion that it was in watching the video tapes ... and the fact that they weren't even the targets is just senseless."

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Ladarius Clardy's killer Da'quavion Snowden found guilty in Pensacola