South Bend teen takes plea deal in murder case after hung jury failed to render verdict

SOUTH BEND — A South Bend teenager who shot and killed his best friend during a May 2020 altercation pleaded guilty to a lesser charge Thursday, signaling a resolution to the case that was stalled by a hung jury.

In front of St. Joseph Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Hurley, 19-year-old Jaylin Tucker admitted to acting in "sudden heat" when he shot and killed Kelvin "K.J" Stanford Jr. and pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and attempted battery with a deadly weapon.

In exchange, prosecutors agreed to dismiss murder and attempted murder charges. According to the terms of the plea agreement, Tucker will receive a sentence of between 10 and 15 years, with a five-year sentence on the attempted battery charge to run at the same time.

Loria Perez talks about losing her son Kelvin Stanford Jr. while holding a basketball he owned near a memorial she setup Wednesday, May 11, 2022 near her former home in South Bend.
Loria Perez talks about losing her son Kelvin Stanford Jr. while holding a basketball he owned near a memorial she setup Wednesday, May 11, 2022 near her former home in South Bend.

Both Tucker and Stanford were 17 at the time of the May 2020 shooting and Tucker argued he acted in self-defense at a trial in March. After listening to two days of testimony and seven hours of deliberations, a jury was unable to reach a verdict, causing uncertainty as prosecutors decided whether to pursue a plea deal or retry the case.

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Stanford's mother, local activist Loria Perez, said she's satisfied with the plea and is glad to have some closure. And while she feels Tucker needs to serve time in prison, she hopes he's able to continue his education and keep his head up while incarcerated.

"I want him to find purpose in his life," Perez said. "I don't want this to be the only thing Jaylin's going to be known for."

The criminal charges against Tucker stem from a gathering between a group of five friends, including Tucker and Stanford, at Stanford’s house in the 1100 block of East McKinley Avenue on May 13, 2020. The youngest person at the house, Tucker’s cousin, was 15 at the time, and Stanford began bullying the boy and saying he shouldn’t be hanging out with the older teenagers.

At one point in the evening, Stanford and the boy began to fight in the front yard of the house until the other teens separated them.

Everyone went back inside and the berating continued. But witnesses gave conflicting narratives about what happened next.

The boy said Stanford stood in the doorway of the house and pointed a gun at him and told him to leave. According to the teen, Stanford told him “If you don’t leave, on my brother’s grave, I have a right to kill you.”

Other witnesses denied Stanford pointed his gun at anyone and said they thought Stanford was being "dumb," but didn't intend to shoot anyone.

“He wasn’t holding it like he was going to shoot it,” one witness testified.

Metro Homicide is still investigating last Wednesday’s fatal shooting of 17-year-old Kelvin Stanford Jr., at his home on East McKinley Avenue in South Bend.
Metro Homicide is still investigating last Wednesday’s fatal shooting of 17-year-old Kelvin Stanford Jr., at his home on East McKinley Avenue in South Bend.

Tucker then took out his own gun and shot Stanford multiple times. Before running out of the house, Tucker also shot another teenager once in the leg resulting in the attempted murder charge, which has was reduced to attempted battery as a condition of the plea agreement.

Tucker's case was one of two recent murder trials that ended with an undecided jury. In a similar case involving self-defense claims regarding a shooting at the University Park Mall, Dazhon Howard also pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter earlier this month.

Tucker will be sentenced in June.

Email Marek Mazurek at mmazurek@sbtinfo.com. Follow him on Twitter: @marek_mazurek

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: South Bend teen takes plea deal in murder case after hung jury