Man sentenced for Daytona Beach woman's killing during drug-related robbery of boyfriend

Frank Fernandez, The Daytona Beach News-Journal
·3 min read
1

A Georgia man was sentenced to 35 years in state prison for shooting and killing an 18-year-old woman while he and three accomplices tried to rob her boyfriend during a drug deal in Daytona Beach, according to court records.

Jordan Graham, 21, of Hahira, Georgia, pled guilty to second-degree murder with a firearm with discharge and robbery with a firearm as part of a plea deal. Graham shot and killed Rachael Gasparini three years ago.

Graham was sentenced Wednesday to 35 years in state prison concurrent on each charge. Graham must serve a minimum of 20 years and will receive credit for 834 days' time served.

Jaquez Head sentenced: Man gets life after turning down plea offer in Daytona drug killing

Georgia man jailed: Ga. man accused of fatally shooting Daytona woman at her apartment brought to Volusia County

Sister demands justice: 'She shouldn't have been taken from us' — Sisters demand justice in woman's shooting death

The second-degree murder charge was reduced from first-degree murder as part of the plea deal; he originally faced a mandatory life sentence.

The State Attorney’s Office described Graham as a “young guns” defendant.

"We continue to fight the scourge of young gun violence in our communities," State Attorney R.J. Larizza said in a press release. "The 35-year sentence should be a message to those who seek to resolve their differences with guns and bullets.”

Graham was 18 on Sept. 18, 2020, when he and three other men traveled from Georgia to rob Kevin Berry, according to court records. Berry was dealing marijuana out of the apartment he shared with his girlfriend, Gasparini, at the Eagle Point Apartments, 468 Brentwood Drive in Daytona Beach, according to testimony.

Rachael Gasparini was shot at her Daytona Beach apartment complex on Sept. 18, 2020. She was taken to the hospital, where she later died.
Rachael Gasparini was shot at her Daytona Beach apartment complex on Sept. 18, 2020. She was taken to the hospital, where she later died.

One of the men, Jaquez Head, attacked Berry, who struggled with the larger man and yelled for Gasparini to bring him his gun. Berry testified during Head's trial that he had not seen if one of the men had a gun.

Gasparini came out of a bedroom unarmed and Graham shot her, according to prosecutors.

Head, of Valdosta, Georgia, turned down a plea offer that would have sent him to prison for 25 years. He went to trial last year and was found guilty of first-degree felony murder which carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison.

Circuit Judge Leah Case noted that at the time of Gasparini’s murder, Head was less than two years into a 10-year probation sentence for another armed robbery. She sentenced him to two consecutive life terms.

A third man, Armonta Waters, 23, also of Valdosta, was charged with first-degree murder and robbery with a firearm; his next hearing is set for May 8.

The fourth man, Kimba Kimble, 24, who had previously lived in Daytona Beach, was charged with third-degree felony murder. Kimble remained in the car and did not enter the apartment, according to records. Kimble has a hearing scheduled for April 20.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Georgia man gets 35 years prison in Rachael Gasparini's death