Man found guilty of killing Mt. Juliet teen on his 19th birthday
The defendant was accused of pointing a handgun at several teens at the party before shooting Austin Gordon.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - A Wilson County jury found a 22-year-old guilty of recklessly killing a Mt. Juliet teen celebrating his 19th birthday in September 2022, the district attorney general said.
Caleb Mershon was found guilty after just under two hours of deliberations on charges of reckless homicide, reckless aggravated assault resulting in death, three counts of reckless endangerment, possession of a firearm while intoxicated and underage consumption of alcohol.
Merson and Austin Gordon were celebrating Gordon’s birthday when Mershon unintentionally shot Gordon, resulting in his death. District Attorney General Jason Lawson said prosecutors introduced evidence that Mershon was intoxicated and showed extreme recklessness with a handgun, pointing the gun at multiple other teens throughout the evening prior to the shooting. After the shooting, Mershon attempted to render aid to Gordon without success.
“This is a terribly tragic case of a person treating a gun as a toy while intoxicated,” Lawson said in a news release. “There was never any question that the defendant did not intend to shoot his friend, but his reckless behavior with that gun cost Austin his life and has forever changed the lives of many people. Those are actions that Caleb Mershon must be held responsible for.”
Lawson said the most important piece of evidence introduced during the two-day trial was Snapchat and cell phone videos showing Mershon’s behavior with the gun during the night.
“I believe the most important evidence in the case was the videos recovered from Snapchat and cell phones which showed the behavior of the defendant with the gun that night,” Lawson said. “Detective (Matthew) Smith’s recovery of those videos gave the jury a front row seat to the recklessness of the defendant leading up to the fatal shooting.”
A sentencing hearing for Mershon will be held on Sept. 10. The sentencing range for Mershon is 2 to 16 years in prison, according to Lawson. The sentence will be decided by the trail judge.
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