HENRICO COUNTY, Va. – A Chesterfield County man has been sentenced to seven years in prison in connection to the fatal shooting of a Henrico teen.
James Edwin McLaughlin III, 20, was sentenced to seven years in prison as part of a plea deal, which reduced the first-degree murder charge against him to voluntary manslaughter.
McLaughlin and a second man, 20-year-old Roger Brown, were arrested in connection to the April 11, 2017 shooting death of 16-year-old Jamaa Scott on the grounds of Montrose Elementary School in Henrico.
According to court documents, Scott was meeting them to buy an iPhone, and was shot and killed when he tried to steal that phone.
Those documents say Scott grabbed the phone from Brown and ran away. That’s when police say McLaughlin and Brown fired over a dozen shots, striking Scott multiple times.
The 16-year-old shooting victim was taken to the hospital where he died.
Attorneys for McLaughlin and Brown say they acted in self-defense.
Brown is scheduled to be formally sentenced in May for a voluntary manslaughter charge.