jmccann@heraldsun.com; 419-6601
DURHAM -- The jailed man accused of dumping what turned out to be fatal gunfire into the Cornwallis Road public-housing community in 2007 was in court Monday for sentencing in an unrelated crime of marijuana possession.
Jasmond Jevon Rogers received a sentence of 80 to 105 months behind bars for felony possession of marijuana. He pleaded guilty to that earlier this year but was sentenced this week.
Rogers is being represented by Durham attorney Lisa Williams, and on Monday in court she spoke up for her client by explaining that so far he'd used his time in jail to get help for his drug problems. Plus, Rogers was cooperative with law-enforcement officers and has a support system here in the community, Williams explained.
Much graver charges lie ahead for Rogers. He faces the death penalty in the slaying of Quincy Bowens, who in 2007 was visiting his aunt at the Cornwallis Road public-housing community on South Roxboro Street when he was caught up in a drive-by shooting. According to a relative of Bowens, the young man was shot while trying to shield four younger cousins from gunfire.
Bowens -- at the time of his death he was 15 and a rising eighth-grader at Smith Middle School in Chapel Hill -- at one point attended Shepard Middle School in Durham
Because Rogers faces the death penalty, he is entitled to two lawyers. Terry Alford of Spring Hope also is representing Rogers and was by his side Monday. Williams is Rogers' lead counsel.
Assistant District Attorney Jim Dornfried is prosecuting the case. Dornfried last year obtained permission to seek the death penalty for Rogers because at least one aggravating factor was involved. Dornfried cited an alleged course of criminal conduct by Rogers that included a shootout with police at the time he was captured, along with two felonious assaults and a kidnapping. Those actions were in addition to the murder, according to Dornfried.
The other possible penalty for a first-degree murder conviction is life in prison with no chance for parole.
