A jury on Friday found former Sebastian River High School football standout Jamal Riggins Jr. not guilty on murder and attempted murder charges in connection to a deadly 2018 drive-by shooting that killed an innocent bystander. After the ruling, Riggins was brought back to the Indian River County Jail and then released.
“The jury exonerated (Riggins) of all charges related to the shooting,” Circuit Court Judge Robert Meadows said to Riggins Friday in the courtroom as his family looked on. “(Riggins) will be released from jail immediately.”
The verdict came at the end of the four-day trial, where prosecutors and defense attorneys spoke with witnesses on the stand and jurors. If convicted, Riggins would have faced the maximum penalty of life in prison.
Prosecutors said Riggins planned the shooting after he and another man got into an argument about 30 minutes prior. Defense attorneys argued there was no forensic or physical evidence – including fingerprints and DNA – to place Riggins at the crime scene or in the car used during the gunfire.
Prosecutors were tasked with convincing the jury – without a reasonable doubt – that Riggins pulled the trigger. The firearm used in the shooting still has not been found.
The defense also said there was crossfire, with another man firing back at the gunman. Authorities were not able to determine the caliber of the bullet that struck Hicks, piercing his stomach, liver, heart and lung.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant State Attorneys Bill Long and Felicia Holloman, while Defense Attorney Adrienne Bucchi represented Riggins. The attorneys spoke with up to 20 witnesses, including Hicks’ family and friends, Indian River Sheriff’s Detectives, a medical examiner, latent print examiner, firearms examiner and forensics specialist.
Riggins had faced charges of first-degree murder with a firearm, attempted first-degree murder with a firearm, and four counts of attempted second-degree murder with a firearm.
The shooting killed 19-year-old Christard Hicks, a Fort Pierce teenager who was at a gathering with a group of friends. The gunfire happened the afternoon of April 20, 2018 outside of a home in the 4400 block of 25th Avenue in Gifford.
The family of Hicks – who went by “Dat Way” – wept as the verdict was read in the courtroom. The family for five years sought justice for Hicks, a young athlete who aspired to play Major League Baseball and competed in youth tournaments at the Jackie Robinson Training Complex.
At least two witnesses in court identified Riggins as the front-seat passenger who sprayed bullets from an assault rifle while riding in a black Chrysler. A third witness had picked Riggins out of a photo lineup a month after the shooting, prosecutors said.
A latent print examiner and a forensic specialist examined fingerprints and DNA left behind on the door handle of the Chrysler and items inside. None of the fingerprints or DNA matched with Riggins, the experts said in court on Wednesday.
Prosecutors said Riggins fired 10 shots from a rifle toward the home, targeting Quinten Jones, the man he argued with earlier that day. Jones returned fire with a 9 mm pistol, attorneys said.
After the shooting, Riggins denied being involved but told a friend that “Christard was never the target,” court records show. Deputies said that Riggins and his older cousin, Dominique Riggins, spoke by phone minutes before the shooting and afterwards.
Minutes after shots rang out, Riggins received a series of phone calls from several people asking if he was involved, prosecutors said. Three days after the shooting, deputies towed Dominique Riggins’ Chrysler to the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office to be searched.
In the trunk, deputies found a loaded Ruger 5.56 rifle, which prosecutors said was not used during the gunfire, reports show. Deputies also found a receipt for a purchased Kel-Tec .223 rifle from Indian River Sportsman shooting range inside the Chrysler. The Kel-Tec rifle still has not been found.
Detectives said .223 rifle rounds and projectiles were found on the ground and in the walls of the home at the crime scene.
Deputies arrested Dominique Riggins in March 2019 after they said he drove the Chrysler during the shooting.
Jamal Riggins graduated from Sebastian River High School in the spring of 2018 and had landed a full football scholarship to Kansas State University before his arrest, according to his parents Sherice Watkins and Jamal Riggins Sr.