Facebook ‘baby mama’ murder suspect acquitted by Columbia jury

It started with a taunt on Facebook about someone’s “baby mama,” turned into two fistfights and ended with a bullet in the head that killed 17-year-old Eric Washington instantly.

And Monday evening, a Richland County jury acquitted Jerimiah Pough, 22, of Columbia, of murder charges in Washington’s death. But jurors found him guilty of possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime.

State Judge Jocelyn Newman sentenced Pough, who was 19 at the time of the shooting, to five years in prison on the weapons charge.

“It was so tragic, senseless, to have this happen over a girl, and nonsense and pride and bravado,” said John Delgado, who defended Pough along with co-counsel John Nichols. They won a rare acquittal on a murder charge in state criminal court against veteran 5th Circuit prosecutors Luck Campbell, Nicole Simpson and Meghan Walker.

Prosecutors weren’t trying to prove that Pough was the gunman. But they were operating under the legal principle that “the hand of one is the hand of all.”

Delgado and Nichols made the strategic decision not to put up evidence and presented their defense through cross-examination of prosecution witnesses. That way, under S.C. law, they got to make the final closing argument to the jury, Delgado said. Studies show that final arguments have extra power, he said. “It can be very impactful.”

Prosecution evidence showed Washington, who was struck by a .40-caliber bullet that hit him in the right temple as he dove for cover into the back seat of a nearby car, was a senior at C.A. Johnson High School in 2015, when the incident happened. He was planning a career in the National Guard.

On March 15, 2015, a Sunday, Washington was behind the Drew Wellness Center on Harden Street, when a fight broke out between him and another young man. Each fighter had a group of friends with him. According to evidence in Pough’s five-day trial, someone fired shots during the fight. Everyone fled.

Pough was not at that fight, but he heard that there would be another fight that evening, at 7:30 p.m. at nearby T.S. Martin Park, and decided to go. Because he heard there was gunfire at the first fight, Pough took along a 9mm semi-automatic for self-protection, Delgado said.

On the park’s baseball field, the fistfight between Martin and another youth began anew. Someone began firing a gun from a distant woods, Delgado said.

That was when Washington was shot and killed. Fourteen shell casings were found at the scene, six from a 9mm and eight from a .40-caliber gun. Ballistics ultimately showed that Washington was shot with a .40-caliber bullet.

Pough, like most others there, fled. Then he left the state. Soon afterward, because of information developed by the Columbia police, he was charged with murder and brought back to Columbia. He admitted having a 9mm pistol, and it was turned over to police.

“It was a difficult case for the prosecution,” Delgado said. He told the jury that yes, Pough was guilty of the weapons charge but didn’t kill. The jury agreed.

This story was originally published August 29, 2017 at 6:08 PM with the headline "Facebook ‘baby mama’ murder suspect acquitted by Columbia jury."