NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — A Newport News jury found a man accused of a deadly shooting outside Menchville High School in 2021 not guilty of voluntary manslaughter on Wednesday.
The verdict for Demari Batten came in one day after his re-trial began. It took jurors about an hour to deliberate after two days of testimony and evidence.
More than two years ago, investigators said then-18-year-old Batten shot and killed 17-year-old Justice Dunham after a basketball game.
His father, Demari Batten's father Lemar Batten said after tonight's verdict: his son acted in self-defense.
“Not guilty is the best thing you ever heard when you’re a parent and your child is in trouble," Lemar Batten said. “He didn’t go to the Menchville game for a fight, he went to go watch a game."
During Batten’s first trial in 2022, a jury couldn’t agree on a charge.
The prosecution and defense both rested on Wednesday, day two of the trial. Batten took the stand and told jurors he wanted them to hear what happened from his point of view.
Investigators say the shooting happened on the night of December 14, 2021, in the parking lot of Menchville High School in Newport News.
Batten said he left the basketball game early to avoid conflict with a group of people.
But after the game, Batten said a teen from that group attacked him while he sat in a car. Batten told jurors he reached for his gun out of fear someone would use it against him. That's when he saw someone open the driver's side door and said he shot his gun because he, “just wanted them to get off” of him. He ended up shooting and killing Justice Dunham
Defense Attorney Mario Lorello claimed Batten defended himself. Lorello said his client wanted to jump in the driver’s seat and drive off, but one of Dunham’s friends opened the door.
“The jury heard all the evidence. They listened very closely and they determined that this was self-defense," Lorello said. “We presented a straight self-defense case. The issue was very straight-forward: whether or not someone who’s in a vehicle, who’s being attacked from both sides – one of those individuals wearing a ski mask, unfortunately, the decedent in this case – whether that person in the car has a right to defend themselves.”
Prosecutors said Batten brought a gun to a fistfight.
They questioned the lead homicide investigator on the case, Detective Thomas Allen. Detective Allen said Batten initially told him he didn’t know where the gun came from during questioning. But he said Batten eventually told him he bought it from someone on the street because he didn’t feel safe in his neighborhood.
On the stand, Batten said he never had any hatred towards Dunham and didn’t even know he shot Dunham until investigators told him.
During Batten’s first trial in 2022, for the murder of Dunham, the jury found him guilty of firing a gun on school property and having a gun with more than 20 rounds.
Lemar Batten said he always knew his son would be found not guilty.
“He was really facing serious charges and now he can come home real, real soon," Lemar Batten said. "I’m so happy. So excited.”