Four Years Later, Justice for Lazuri Collins: Jermaine Beamon Sentenced to 70 Years
Jermaine Beamon Sentenced to 70 Years
Kenton Circuit Judge Patricia Summe sentenced Jermaine Lamont Beamon, 29, to 70 years in prison for killing a young Covington mother and wounding her father in 2017. A Kenton County jury convicted the Cincinnati man of Murder and First Degree Assault in August. The same jury recommended a 50 year sentence for the murder and 20 year sentence for the assault, to be served consecutively, for a total of 70 years.
Covington Police were called to the area of 13th and Wheeler Streets in the Eastside community on Saturday, July 29, 2017 for a shooting. Officers located Lazuri Collins in the driver’s seat of a Toyota Camry, suffering from a gunshot wound to the head. Her father, Antonio Collins, a passenger in the rear seat of the vehicle, was also struck by gunshots. Numerous witnesses told police they observed a hooded gunman flee the area on foot but police were unable to locate a suspect. Lazuri Collins died from her wounds. Antonio Collins suffered serious injuries but lived.
Covington Police detectives investigated the case for over two years before they had enough evidence to present to a Grand Jury in 2019. Kenton County Commonwealth’s Attorney Rob Sanders said the investigation was stymied because, despite a street teeming with people, none admitted to witnessing the shooting. The prosecutor commended Chief Rob Nader and the Covington Police Crime Bureau for their commitment to the case and all the hours spent on the investigation. “The Covington Police stood up for Lazuri when others wouldn’t and it’s their dedication that put her killer in prison!”
Sanders said police and prosecutors suspected Beamon was the shooter for months because of a dispute he had with Collins’ boyfriend, Chris Goode, but without a witness to place him at the scene, the case was lacking. That changed when a man detectives could prove was present for the shooting got arrested and began to cooperate with police. The man, who is not being identified for his own protection, told detectives Beamon was, in fact, the gunman. Investigators also received cooperation from a federal inmate, Gregory Pritchett who testified Beamon admitted to being the shooter and asked for money to live on while he hid from police.
Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorneys Casey Burns and Emily Arnzen, who prosecuted the case at trial, were able to corroborate the men’s testimony with physical evidence recovered from nearby the shooting scene. Police investigators recovered a handgun and a hoodie from the direction witnesses indicated the gunman ran after the shots. DNA from the hoodie matched Beamon. Ballistics testing of the gun matched it to a bullet recovered from Collins during the autopsy.
“I hope the outcome inspires more confidence in law enforcement and the justice system,” said Sanders. “Justice for Lazuri would have come a lot sooner if we’d had more cooperation from the start,” he said. Sanders said the case took so long to complete that multiple police officers involved had retired along the way. “It was great to see (Ret.) Sgt. Brian Kane and (Ret.) Sgt. Jim West in action one last time,” said Sanders. “Those guys were the best of the best when it comes to cops and they deserve a lot of credit for the dogged pursuit of justice in this case,” he said.
Posted on Saturday, November 6th, 2021 @ 9:34PM
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