Miami man claimed self-defense in shooting that killed 10-year-old boy. Jurors acquitted him.

A jury on Thursday night acquitted a Miami man who was accused of murdering a 10-year-old boy in Overtown while opening fire on gang rivals in 2015.

Kahleb Newkirk, who was only 14 at the time of the shooting, was acquitted of a second-degree murder charge. At trial, his lawyers said Newkirk, now 21, opened fire in self-defense.

Newkirk, who had been jailed since his arrest in 2015, was convicted of carrying a concealed weapon and trespassing. On Friday, he was ordered released from jail. He can’t get any more time behind bars — he’s already served more time in jail than what he could have faced as a maximum punishment for the convictions.

Because he was only 14 at the time of the shooting, his lawyers will ask for “juvenile sanctions,” which will allow his record to be sealed. Newkirk also plans to move out of Miami.

Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Marisa Tinkler Mendez suggested Newkirk stay away from relatives of the slain boy — and members of the gang he used to associate with. “Set an example that will bring positive things to your community, please,” Tinkler Mendez said.

Said his defense lawyer, Fallon Zirpoli: “Change your life, Kahleb. This is your chance.”

The trial unfolded this week seven years after 10-year-old Marlon Eason, while playing with a basketball outside his family’s Overtown apartment, was struck down by an errant bullet to the head. Marlon’s death devastated relatives and led to heartfelt vigils mourning the student from Miami’s Center of Life Academy. His death was one of numerous high-profile child murders that took place during that decade.

Investigators believe Newkirk and his co-defendant, Ernest Rowell, were part of a group known as the “Gary Gang.” On March 24, 2015, one of their associates, Richard Hallman, 16, was fatally shot during a firefight with rivals in Allapattah. Investigators believe his 9 mm pistol was whisked away and later given to Newkirk and Rowell.

On the 1900 block of Northwest Fourth Court, less than two hours later, Newkirk and Rowell opened fire because they thought they saw the gang rivals in a car driving by.

“Newkirk committed this crime because he is a member of this gang,” prosecutor Simar Khera told jurors during closing arguments.

Newkirk later confessed to a relative of the little boy, jurors heard. And about three weeks later, police arrested Newkirk and Rowell for trespassing in Overtown. Prosecutors said Newkirk hurled the 9 mm pistol onto the roof of a home. Lab tests showed the gun matched a bullet casing found at the scene of Marlon’s death.

Newkirk’s defense tried a two-pronged approach — that he acted in self-defense, firing at the car he believed was filled with rivals looking to gun him down, and that he was actually so far away at a basketball court that it couldn’t have been his bullet that killed Marlon.

“Focus on the lack of eyewitnesses,” Miami defense attorney Andrew Rier told jurors.

The case was prosecuted by Khera and Stephen Mitchell, and defended by Rier and Zirpoli. Rowell, his co-defendant, is still awaiting trial.

This story was originally published March 10, 2022 at 8:39 PM.