RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — On the fourth day of a complex jury trial, 20-year-old Amari Pollard pleaded guilty to the murder of Shawn Jackson. Now, for the first time, the public has access to FBI surveillance footage the day of the deadly Huguenot High School graduation shooting.
Since the judge accepted the plea agreement, in the eyes of the court, Amari Pollard is guilty of first-degree murder in the shooting that killed 18-year-old Shawn Jackson on June 6, 2023.
However, the judge himself admitted it was a “factually complicated” case. The guilty plea does not change the fact that Pollard and his legal team spent four days arguing that the shooting was in self-defense.
The defense’s argument largely surrounded 90-minute video compiled by the FBI from cameras surrounding the spot where the shooting took place. The video also included multiple officers’ body camera footage.
Prior to the guilty plea, attorneys played the full video for the jury during the trial. 8News was inside the courtroom the entire week, but the video was displayed facing the jury and away from media, so press could not see the video. The video was released after the trial concluded.
The video follows events leading up to the shooting, starting around 3 p.m. on June 6 and lasting all the way through Pollard’s arrest later that evening. A paramount piece of the footage came through officer body camera footage collected just minutes after the shooting in a nearby parking deck.
“I thought they were going to kill me,” Pollard cried out to an officer. “I’m sorry, I thought they were going to kill me.”
A total of seven people were shot, two of which were killed — identified as Shawn Jackson, 18, and his stepfather Lorenzo “Renzo” Smith. Investigators recovered four guns at the scene.
“This is my first time ever doing anything,” Pollard can be heard crying out to a responding officer in the footage.
The officer responded, “If someone threatened to kill you, we will talk about it.”
The video confirmed that Smith went back to his car near the end of the graduation ceremony. Witnesses say he retrieved two firearms.
At the stand, Tameeka Jackson-Smith, the mother of Jackson and wife of Smith, clarified that Smith did not go back to the car for the firearms. Rather, he went to smoke and ended up grabbing the weapons.
Minutes before the shooting, the video shows Jackson celebrating and hugging loved ones outside of the Altria Theatre, then disappearing into Monroe Park with Smith following behind.
Jackson and Smith walk off screen, but then in critical moments later, they become visible again. This was the point where the story changes between parties.
The video shows Pollard running through a crowd. Jackson and Smith appear to be running behind him – seemingly consistent with Pollard’s testimony during trial that he was being chased. Jackson diverted his path – ending up in front of Pollard. However, Jackson was not armed. Pollard shoots at an unarmed Jackson as Smith remains behind Pollard with his gun out.
The crucial moments immediately preceding the shooting were not captured on camera.
Jackson’s family testified that the young graduate was walking towards them when he was shot from behind. However, when the defendant took the stand, Pollard said Jackson had threatened to “crush him.”
Pollard claimed that a mob had quickly formed and a brawl broke out between Jackson and his four friends against Pollard, which led him to be chased and fearing for his own life. This statement did match Pollard’s comments to an officer seen in the footage captured after the incident.
“He told me he was going to crush me,” Pollard can be heard crying to an officer in a parking garage.
The footage showed Pollard running into the parking garage and throwing a gun on the ground. He also wraps his arms around a security officer. Just minutes later, the visibly distraught Pollard cries to another officer, begging for protection.
“I’m not safe,” Pollard cried. “I’m not safe. I have to go. Please! I’ll go to the police I’ll turn myself in. I was just scared.”
The officer — who testified at the trial — said, “I will keep you safe. On my life, I will die before you do.”
Pollard’s guilty plea on Thursday came abruptly, after the judge said he did not think there was a valid self-defense argument. He emphasized that Jackson was shot six times. The judge asked at what point after Jackson hit the ground was the defendant going to stop shooting.
The judge clarified that, by law, a verbal threat is not enough to justify shooting someone six times as self-defense.
Pollard teared up at the stand, but the Jackson-Smith family members sobbed throughout the trial too. Officials acknowledged the case was tragic on many levels.
A jury heard this case all the way through the trial’s fourth day, but it never made it to deliberations. One juror told our 8News team that the jury already had very mixed thoughts and they were not sure how long deliberations would have taken.
According to the plea agreement, Pollard is looking at 25 years behind bars.
