Teen pleads guilty to voluntary manslaughter after shooting neighbor in 2023

WARNER ROBINS – A teen who shot her neighbor in September 2023 was convicted of voluntary manslaughter, according to the District Attorney’s office. 

Jameisha Price, who was then 15 years old, was accused of shooting and killing a neighbor in his home. District Attorney Eric Edwards said she originally had murder charges and was charged as an adult.

Recently, Price opted to enter a guilty plea to the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter. According to Edwards, she was sentenced to 10 years in prison with probation. 

Edwards described the case as sad and odd; the only two people with knowledge of what led up to the shooting are the defendant and the victim. There were no witnesses present and no recording technology to capture what transpired between the two. 

Price was identified as the suspect during the investigation, leading to her arrest by the Warner Robins Police Department. During an interview, she confessed she shot and killed the victim in self-defense and fled the scene. The weapon used was never found, according to Edwards.

Edwards shared the DA’s office felt they had sufficient evidence to initially charge Price with murder, as the warrant stated, due to Price fleeing the scene and not making an immediate call to law enforcement. 

He shared that, unfortunately, this was a strange case because of uncertainty about what happened within the house.

“Because of there being no witnesses present that we felt, given her argument and lack of a clear motive on our part that would be able to establish for why the shooting would have occurred, that we felt comfortable with allowing her to enter that plea to voluntary manslaughter as opposed to murder,” he said.

When the case first came in, Edwards said they were unsure how to proceed. He shared that when they looked at the warrant, they thought the murder charge made sense, and it is what they presented to the Grand Jury. The indictment charged Price with both malice murder and felony murder. 

Edwards said as they continued to look at the case in preparation for trial, they had been negotiating with Price’s defense counsel. They discussed resolving the case as voluntary manslaughter. He said it was not the initial determination they made when they first received the case but it is something they have been formulating as their plan for the last few months.

Edwards explained in the state of Georgia, they don’t have to prove a motive to get a conviction of murder. He said it is not a required component but it was something they would’ve wanted the jury to know, if the case would’ve gone to a jury.

Edwards said there was initial speculation the case may have been a planned robbery of Price’s neighbor. However, there was no evidence of missing property in the victim’s home. There was also no evidence found on the defendant having money or anything that would indicate a robbery, Edwards explained.

A motive to contradict her narrative of self-defense was hard to come by. Edwards said the office was confident it wasn’t an active self-defense, as they normally think about, but they knew that was something the jury would want them to be able to explain. 

He said they weren’t sure they were able to prove a motive that would satisfy a potential jury’s minds. If the case went to trial, voluntary manslaughter would have been the verdict either way.

The DA’s office has received numerous gun violence cases, many tried this year. In these cases, the office pursues convictions and lengthy prison sentences as vigorously as possible, Edwards stated.

This case was unique due to the defendant’s age and lack of witnesses, he said.

“This is one of the rarer cases here in Houston County although not totally unique where we ultimately decide to handle it as a voluntary manslaughter,” Edwards said. “It happens from time to time on shooting death cases but they’re relatively rare in Houston County where typically we are in trial seeking those murder convictions.”

This year so far, there has been a downtick compared to normal numbers on cases involving gun violence, amid rising gun violence cases nationally, Edwards said.

“I’m not sure I can say they [gun violence cases] have risen since this incident but it’s something that [is] unfortunately present all the time throughout the country and something that we’re always trying to combat,” he said.

Edwards said the office’s goal in every case is to see justice served and hold people accountable who break the law. He said they want to protect the community by removing dangerous violence from the streets. 

“We hope to provide a deterrent effect on folks choosing to make bad decisions and involve guns in cases where they shouldn’t, by signaling the community through our sentences that this type of stuff is going to cost you a big chunk, if not the remainder of your life in prison,” Edwards said. “That’s always our goal.”