Judge Jennifer Anderson declared a mistrial Tuesday in the case against Raymond Faunteroy after jurors were unable to agree on a verdict for any of his charges.
Faunteroy is charged with premeditated first-degree murder while armed and two weapons charge in connection with the 2011 murder of 19-year-old Derrick Ragland.
“We have taken a vote and we are not unanimous,” said the jury note submitted to Judge Anderson on Monday afternoon. “We are also at the point where further deliberations are not going to change that.”
Jurors began deliberating on Aug. 8, took a nearly four-week break beginning on Aug. 15, and returned to deliberations on Sept. 8.
Despite Monday’s deadlock, Judge Anderson ordered jurors to continue deliberations. But by Tuesday morning, the jury returned a final note declaring themselves a hung jury.
At trial, prosecutors argued that eyewitness testimony proved that Faunteroy shot Ragland seven times as revenge for a robbery three days earlier.
But Faunteroy’s defense attorney, Billy Ponds, told jurors many of those witnesses lacked credibility. Ponds noted that one witness who claimed to identify Faunteroy as the shooter was not wearing his glasses and had smoked marijuana on the night of the shooting.
A status hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 17.
