Jermaine Bass
On August 29th, 2022, Jaylah Lavia’h Bass and JJ Bass were shot in their bed with a gun belonging to their parents, Shirley and Jermaine Bass. As sheriff’s deputies arrived and administered medical care to the children, Jermaine insisted that his gun had gone off as he changed the magazine in their bedroom. 5 shots were fired – 4 of them into the heads of his children. JJ screamed in pain, yelling “ow, my head!” – but somehow he survived. Tragically, after being shot “in the centre of her forehead”, 5-year-old Jaylah did not.
Today the murder trial of FL v. Jermaine Bass began, with Bass facing charges of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated child abuse. But his defense was no longer that the 5 shots were fired by mistake – perhaps because the trigger of the Glock would have needed to be pulled 5 times, “by accident”. Instead, without specifying who the defense believed fired those fatal shots, the theory that someone else – presumably JJ or Shirley – had done so was put forward.
The prosecution acknowledged in their opening statement that “we may never know” why Bass allegedly shot his two children – but “something was wrong” in the home that night. Shirley had gone out with her sister, and phone records and security footage show that at some point Jermaine left the children alone in the house and followed her. He is alleged to have tailgated her on her way home so aggressively she pulled over, at which point he got out of his truck and walked to her window and asked if she was drunk. He then drove off, arriving home shortly afterwards, followed by Shirley. Eight minutes after she arrived, the shots rang out.
Crime scene investigators showed photographs from the house, including the blood-stained pillows and Batman comforter from the childrens’ bed. Shockingly, a holster was found in a baby’s bassinet in the children’s room, along with a bag full of live ammunition in the closet, and the Glock on the dresser.
The defense pointed out that the DNA of both JJ and Jermaine was on the gun – although not Shirley’s – and argued that the bag containing the bullets belonged to Shirley. They also alleged that Shirley and 8-year-old JJ had not cooperated with police, with JJ being “disruptive” when he was interviewed before eventually telling police that he didn’t remember what happened on the night he was shot in the head.
According to the defense, at the end of the trial the jury will be left with “more questions than answers” – the prosecution may not have the answer to why Jermaine Bass allegedly shot his children, but they confidently said the jury should return a guilty verdict.
