Zachary Sims was found innocent today of the most serious charges against him, after a DC jury found that there was not sufficient evidence to believe that Sims killed 16-year-old Jamal Bell following a graduation party in June 2010.
The verdict was returned Monday, the fourth day of jury deliberations.
Sims, 19, had been charged with killing Bell and wounding two others when he fired a gun into a crowd of young people in front of him as they left a party on Georgia Avenue.
Sims’s defense attorney told jurors that the teen was innocent, that someone else entirely was responsible for the murder and assaults.
The jurors found Sims innocent of seven of the nine charges, including first-degree murder and assault with intent to kill. He was found guilty of two charges: possession of an unregistered firearm and carrying a pistol without a license.
Sentencing on those charges is scheduled for July 13.
