CHARLOTTE, N.C. — 26-year-old Jamario Clinton will face a maximum prison sentence of just under 30 years after he was convicted of trying to kill another man in Charlotte in 2021. Prosecutors say Clinton did this while the victim's young daughter and people trying to help the victim all were right there at the scene, leaving the man with a dozen gunshot wounds.
The Mecklenburg County District Attorney's Office announced Clinton's conviction on Friday, Sept. 16. He was found guilty of attempted 1st-degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon with the intent to kill inflicting serious injury, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. His sentencing was handed down on Wednesday.
Prosecutors say Clinton and the man he would take aim at got into a disagreement in March 2021. The victim, who remains unidentified in a news release from the District Attorney's office, was walking his 3-year-old daughter home along Hovis Road from a nearby park when Clinton drove up alongside the victim and started shooting from his car.
The news release reports Clinton then got out of his car and shot the victim again before driving off. Soon after, Good Samaritans rushed to help him and take care of the victim's daughter.
But then Clinton came back. Prosecutors say he circled back to the scene and got out of his car again, shooting the victim at point-blank range while the daughter and the Good Samaritans were still there. Eventually, Clinton was arrested and brought to the Mecklenburg County Detention Center in June 2021.
Even with 12 gunshot wounds, the district attorney's office said the victim survived after extensive surgeries and was able to testify against Clinton. One of the Good Samaritans who helped the victim also provided testimony during Clinton's trial.
Prosecutors argued during Clinton's sentencing that shooting the victim while the victim's daughter was present was an aggravating factor, which the jury agreed with. Judge Robert C. Ervin thus elevated the prison sentence range accordingly.
Clinton now faces between 264-329 months in prison, which means he is expected to spend anywhere between 22-27 years in prison. If he spends that much time, he is expected to be released in his late 40s to early 50s.
A review of available records online from the county detention center shows Clinton has been previously arrested before. On Jan. 1, 2020, he was arrested on a slew of charges, including assault by strangulation and assault on a female. Three days later, he was charged with assaulting an officer while in jail. He was granted a total of $52,000 secured bond for those charges.
Clinton was then arrested on Feb. 25, 2021 for two more felony charges: possession of cocaine and fleeing or eluding arrest in a motor vehicle. He was granted a total of $5,500 in unsecured bonds for those charges. Exactly four months later, he was arrested for the March 2021 shooting. With the exception of the time he was charged with assaulting an officer in jail, he was arrested by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. For the assault charge in jail, the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office handled that.
The District Attorney's office thanked CMPD, the Rock Hill Police Department, and the FBI for their help. The office also thanked Freedom Fighting Missionaries for supporting and advocating for the victim throughout the trial.