CLARK COUNTY — It took a jury only 4 hours to deliberate after closing arguments for a murder trial in Springfield.
Prosecutors said the defendant shot and killed a 16-year-old in a drug deal that turned into a robbery and then a killing.
We got word of the verdict about 3 p.m.
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News Center 7’s John Bedell listened as both lawyers pleaded their cases.
The jury started deliberating right after they heard closing arguments at the courthouse.
We saw Darius Lewis taking notes during closing arguments in his murder trial.
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“What matters now is this: the state has proven the defendant’s guilt to you all to each and every count beyond a reasonable doubt,” said Clark County Assistant Prosecutor Tracy Lockhart-Williams.
Lewis was charged with killing 16-year-old Da’Meko Taborn in May 2025 in what prosecutors said was a drug deal that turned into a robbery, which escalated and turned violent and deadly.
“He was forced to take another life to save his own life,” said Defense Attorney John Meehling.
The defense said in the middle of a shootout, Lewis did not fire the first shots and shot back, acting in self-defense.
“He’s able to defend himself,” Meehling said. And that’s what’s happened here. He’s guilty of defending himself. He’s not guilty of murder.”
Investigators found Taborn dead inside a car that ended up at the intersection of Euclid and South Limestone streets.
We were at a balloon launch and memorial for him the next day.
U.S. Marshals arrested Lewis two months after the deadly shooting at his mom’s house in Connecticut.
Lewis was also wounded in the shooting but survived.
During their closing arguments, prosecutors said Lewis’ mom drove 13 hours to Springfield to pick him up and drive him back to Connecticut.
Prosecutors told the jury this was no act of self-defense. It was a murder.
“The judge will tell you in his instructions that this is a verdict based on reason and common sense,” said Clark County Prosecutor Dan Driscoll. “If you do that, ladies and gentlemen, this case becomes very, very simple.”
Lewis was found not guilty of the murder.
Lewis’ defense lawyer told us after the verdict that his was a “tough overall case” because a 16-year-old lost his life but that he thought justice was served. Also, he hopes his client, Darius Lewis, uses this “as an opportunity to turn his life around.”
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