Asheville teenager sentenced as adult for shooting 2 minors at 2023 Juneteenth festival

ASHEVILLE – A juvenile pleaded guilty in Buncombe County Superior Court June 11, nearly one year after shots he fired left a 14- and 15-year-old with serious gunshot wounds at the end of Asheville’s Juneteenth Festival in Pack Square Park.

Ja’Woun De’Shun Hackett, 17, of Asheville, pleaded guilty to two counts of felony assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury, one count of felony possession of a stolen firearm and one count of possession of a handgun by a minor, according to a news release from District Attorney Todd Williams’ Office. The case was originally in juvenile court but was indicted to Superior Court in September — while Hackett was still 16 — to be prosecuted as an adult.

At 8:51 p.m. on June 17, 2023, a young male — later identified as Hackett — wearing a red jacket, black ski mask and a fanny pack across his chest, shot two juveniles with a two-toned silver and black pistol in Pack Square Park, in front of the Buncombe County Courthouse, the release said. Hackett was 16 years old at the time.

Asheville Police Department officers, whose headquarters are located next to the park, “responded immediately and took Hackett into custody minutes after the shooting,” the release said. He was wearing the same clothes described by witnesses, and a two-toned silver and black 9 mm handgun was found in the bushes nearby.

Investigators later found social media videos of a fight between the victims and Hackett, who is seen “drawing” a two-toned handgun, according to the release.

Forensic evaluation of the handgun matches a gun stolen from an unsecured vehicle in Macon County on Nov. 11, 2022, though the DA’s Office did not specify how Hackett ended up with the firearm. Law enforcement and community officials who held a gun safety event at this same park June 7 said improperly stored guns is a major factor in how youths are getting their hands on firearms and contributing to a large increase in youth gun violence seen in Buncombe County.

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Why was a 16-year-old prosecuted as an adult?

North Carolina used to be the only state to automatically prosecute juveniles as adults beginning at age 16. That’s before the General Assembly enacted the Juvenile Justice Reinvestment Act, or “Raise the Age,” in 2017, according to the UNC School of Government. The act raised the age of criminal responsibility to 18, meaning most minors must be prosecuted in juvenile court, barring a few exceptions.

However, the act stipulated that all 16- and 17-year-olds charged with Class A through C felonies must be transferred to Superior Court after starting in juvenile court. When he was indicted, Hackett faced a Class C felony of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury. Class D and E felonies can be transferred at the district attorney’s discretion, according to lawyers with the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina.

The time in juvenile court gives prosecutors the option to reduce charges, or choose to indict D and E felonies, based on additional evidence before the juvenile is sent to be prosecuted as an adult after an indictment or probable cause hearing, according to UNC School of Government.

But all this may soon be changing based on a bill currently sitting on Gov. Roy Cooper’s desk, spokesperson Keisha Williams with N.C. ACLU said. House Bill 834, also called “Juvenile Justice Modifications,” would automatically place 16- and 17-year-olds facing A through E felonies in adult court, with the option for D and E felonies to be transferred to juvenile court. Cooper has until June 16 to veto or sign the bill into law, Williams said.

“Prosecuting children as adults causes significant harm to young people and does nothing to address the underlying causes of youth crime,” Liz Barber, N.C. ACLU’s policy and advocacy director, wrote in a letter to Cooper asking him to veto the bill.

‘She saved your life’: Corrections officer given medal of honor, juvenile sentenced

The juvenile victims in the June 2023 shooting suffered serious injuries, according to previous Citizen Times reporting. Kalla Hughley, a probation and parole officer with the N.C. Division of Adult Corrections, was at the Juneteenth event with her family and saw the shooting, the release said.

She immediately aided the “more seriously wounded juvenile victim,” applying a temporary tourniquet to the victim’s leg and pressure to the wound while keeping the victim calm until emergency medical responders arrived. Both juveniles were then transferred to Mission Hospital and made a full recovery, according to the release.

Hughley’s quick response was recognized by receiving the Bronze Medal of Honor by One Voice United for her actions in saving the injured juvenile.

“Not only did she save the victims’ lives, she saved yours,” visiting Superior Court Judge Joseph N. Crosswhite told Hackett in court, according to the DA’s Office.

“If it were not for Hughley’s life-saving assistance, Hackett could well have been charged and convicted of first-degree murder and might have been sentenced to life without parole,” the release said.

The Citizen Times reached out to Hackett’s family.

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Crosswhite sentenced Hackett to two consecutive felony sentences, the first being an active sentence of 20 to 36 months, or up to three years, in N.C. State Prisons, according to the release. The second sentence is a three-year supervised probationary term. If Hackett violates the probation conditions, he can be given a suspended prison term of 25 to 42 months, or up to 3.5 years in prison.

Hackett was transferred to the Foothills Correctional Institution in Morganton on June 11 and placed with the regular population in the prison, according to the N.C. Department of Adult Correction’s offender locator.

“I gave a lot of thought to the structure of this plea, and it is designed with my sincere hope and that of the State that upon his release from custody, Mr. Hackett will receive the structure, education, and support that he needs to never again be involved in the criminal justice system,” Katie Kurdys, the assistant district attorney prosecuting the case, said.

Hackett must serve 100 hours of community service during probation, with at least 25 of those being through local organizations dedicated to juvenile violence intervention. Crosswhite also ordered Hackett to wear an electronic monitor for 160 days, complete his graduate equivalency diploma and have no contact with the victims, the release said.

Ryley Ober is the Public Safety Reporter for Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Email her at rober@gannett.com and follow her on Twitter @ryleyober

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Asheville’s Juneteenth festival shooting: teenager sentenced as adult