A Jefferson Parish jury convicted 43-year-old Jakita Johnson-Nash of second-degree murder Friday, Oct. 23, for fatally shooting her ex-girlfriend, Charlene Jarreau, in December 2022. Jurors also found Johnson-Nash guilty of obstruction of justice and witness intimidation, but acquitted her of a second-degree kidnapping charge tied to a witness in the case.
A Jury Rejects the Mental Illness Defense
Prosecutors argued that Johnson-Nash pursued Jarreau for about 33 minutes before the shooting, according to court documents cited by the Jefferson Parish District Attorney’s Office. The office said jurors rejected the defense argument that mental illness meant Johnson-Nash could not be held criminally responsible. District Attorney Paul Connick Jr. announced the verdict, according to the office.
Jarreau, 42, and Johnson-Nash had ended a yearlong relationship earlier in 2022. On Dec. 6, Johnson-Nash went to the St. Claude home where Jarreau was living with her mother and visiting with a new girlfriend, the District Attorney’s Office said. Johnson-Nash arrived in a 2002 Chevrolet Tahoe with a pistol, argued with Jarreau and slashed the tires on her mother’s truck, according to the office. She had called and texted Jarreau throughout the day.
Evidence Presented at Trial
The two women later went to Bunch Village, where witnesses described a fight following an argument. Two witnesses said they heard Johnson-Nash tell Jarreau, “If I can’t have you, no one else can,” according to the District Attorney’s Office. Surveillance video obtained by the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office showed Jarreau trying to get away before the shooting, WGNO reported.
The District Attorney’s Office said forensic evidence showed Jarreau was shot in the back left side of her neck, severing her spinal cord. NOLA.com’s initial report quoted the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office as saying Jarreau had been shot at least once in the head and was pronounced dead at the scene. The available accounts do not resolve the difference in their descriptions of the wound.
Charges Shifted Before Trial
Detectives arrested Johnson-Nash two days after the killing, the District Attorney’s Office said. Contemporaneous reporting from NOLA.com at the time said Jakita Johnson, 39, of Marrero, was booked with first-degree murder, second-degree kidnapping and obstruction of justice. A later NOLA.com report said she was instead charged with second-degree murder, obstruction of justice, second-degree kidnapping and intimidation of a witness. The District Attorney’s Office said the obstruction-of-justice charge stemmed from Johnson-Nash’s attempt to eliminate evidence, including burning and bleaching clothing…