A teenage Missouri boy who was found guilty for shooting a 17-year-old girl during a drug deal in Riverside is facing 26 years in prison.
Jay Palmer met with the 17-year-old teenage girl to buy $20 worth of marijuana at Homestead Park on December 30, 2020.
Palmer was 15 at the time of the shooting.
According to court documents, after arriving at the park, a disagreement over payment happened and the girl tried to get the marijuana back from Palmer, he then shot her in the head.
Police received several calls to the area reporting seeing the girl lying in a pool of blood and a gold or tan 4-door sedan leaving the scene.
Emergency crews arrived and found the 17-year-old alive with a gunshot wound above her left eye.
She underwent emergency surgery, then spent several months in recovery. Documents say she remains partially paralyzed, blind in one eye, and has trouble communicating.
Through investigation of surveillance footage, police traced Palmer to the Crossings at Barry Road Apartments where he lived.
When police searched his vehicle, they found the victim’s blood inside and outside the vehicle. A bloody shirt was found in a laundry basket inside the home.
At trial, Palmer said the gun shot accidentally when he tried to back away from the girl, who he claimed was attacking him for the drugs.
“This is one of far too many recent cases where young people have been shot and seriously injured or killed over small amounts of marijuana,” Platte County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Zahnd said. “It’s a miracle this victim lived, but it’s a tragedy that any normal life for her was cut short over $20 of marijuana.”
Palmer was found guilty of second degree assault, stealing and two counts of armed criminal action.
He faces between 14 to 26 years in prison. He will be sentenced on August 15 at 9 a.m.
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