A Los Angeles man was acquitted Friday of the shooting death of a 19-year-old man in Long Beach just over three years ago.
Jurors acquitted Devon Steven Yarbrough, now 29, of first-degree murder, along with the lesser offenses of second-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter, defense attorney Jovan Blacknell said.
Yarbrough — who had been behind bars since his arrest outside a Gardena motel in March 2021 — was released from custody Friday afternoon shortly after the jury’s verdict.
“He was so scared because he was facing the rest of his life,” Blacknell said after the verdict. “He was brave, he was adamant in his innocence. He’s on cloud nine.”
The case stemmed from the Nov. 19, 2020, shooting death of Shemar Alexander. Police said shortly after the shooting that a dispute led to the shooting at an after-hours event that was being held at a closed business on Artesia Boulevard.
Alexander died the next day at a hospital.
Prosecutors alleged that Alexander was shot after Yarbrough leaned in toward an ongoing fight in what authorities believed was a gang-related dispute, arguing that Yarbrough should be convicted of first-degree murder.
Yarbrough’s attorney countered that jurors should “really focus on the sufficiency of the evidence,” saying that a surveillance video constituted the “lion’s share of the evidence” and that “no one actually saw what happened.” He had urged the panel Thursday to acquit his client.