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Gadson acquitted in shooting death of her son

E-mail|Link August 10, 2010 04:46 PM

By Brian Ballou, Globe Staff

A Suffolk County Superior Court jury today found Lakeisha Gadson not guilty of involuntary manslaughter, more than three years after the Dorchester mother made a tearful admission that her 7-year-old nephew accidentally shot her 8-year-old son after they found a gun in her older son's bedroom.

Handout photo

Liquarry Jefferson

During a four-day trial, Assistant District Attorney David Deakin sought to convince the eight-woman, five-man jury that Gadson, 34, kept a loaded handgun, or allowed her teenage son, Jayquan McConnico, to keep a loaded handgun, in her apartment at 266 Seaver St., within reach of small children.

Her nephew accidentally shot Gadson’s son, Liquarry Jefferson, in the abdomen on June 24, 2007. Liquarry was shot and killed by his cousin moments after Liquarry found a 9mm handgun in a drawer in McConnico’s room.

The cousin, who is now 10, testified last week, saying, “I did it by accident.’’ His name is being withheld at the request of prosecutors, citing his age.

She was also acquitted child endangerment, unlawful possession of a firearm, and improper storage of a firearm.

However, she was convicted of misleading police. Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 2.

Gadson and McConnico, then 15, initially gave investigators false accounts of how Liquarry was shot, saying that armed men burst into the apartment, headed directly for McConnico’s room, and shot the boy.

But their separate statements had numerous inconsistencies, and within several hours after the shooting, Gadson admitted that it was her nephew who shot her son. She later gave a press conference, apologizing to authorities and the community.

McConnico, now 18, pleaded guilty to manslaughter charges in 2008.

Gadson’s attorney, Peter B. Krupp, argued in his closing argument that prosecutors failed to make a convincing case. “I don’t think a reasonable jury can find Miss Gadson guilty of any of the first four charges,’’ he said, referring to all the charges except misleading police.

On Monday afternoon, as they ended their second day of deliberations, the jury submitted a question to Judge Thomas A. Connors, asking him if "lying to the officer is the same as misleading."

Today, the judge told jurors the necessary elements of the misleading charge require evidence that the defendant directly or indirectly misled police involved in the investigation, and that she acted willfully to impede or obstruct the investigation.

Last fall, Gadson and her attorney worked out a plea deal with prosecutors that would have averted a trial, but the agreement fell through at the last second, leading to the now-concluded trial.

Jurors reached their verdicts late this afternoon.