PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The man who shot and paralyzed an infant, Yaseem Jenkins, in 2019, has been found guilty of murder. The boy died last year for reasons stemming from the injury
The victim’s family on Thursday wore blue-and-white t-shirts with the words “Yaseem strong” and a white dove airbrushed on the back as Judge Scott O’Keefe said Francisco Ortiz was guilty of third-degree murder.
Prosecutors said Ortiz fired several rounds at a car, knowing there was a child in the back seat, after the 11-month-old’s father had purchased two containers of marijuana with two counterfeit $20 bills.
Yaseem’s family wiped away tears as prosecutors described how the 3-year-old suffered for years after he was paralyzed from the neck down in the shooting.
The victim’s mother, eyewitnesses and police officers were called to testify over the course of a few days.
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The defense argued the case was weak, saying it was based on two witnesses who were the “literal embodiment of reasonable doubt.”
Ortiz is already serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for another murder. He is scheduled to be sentenced again in October.