A man who represented himself at his murder trial was found guilty Wednesday.
Jurors returned the verdict against Aaron Ingram, 36, on a count each of first-degree murder with a deadly weapon, battery with a deadly weapon resulting in substantial bodily harm, discharging a firearm at or into an occupied structure or vehicle, robbery with a deadly weapon and burglary in possession of a firearm.
Ingram was also found not guilty of attempted robbery with a deadly weapon.
The verdict came after the jury deliberated for less than two hours. He showed no visible reaction after a clerk read it.
Ingram was arrested in 2020 and accused of robbing and fatally shooting 28-year-old Jemonte Smith during a marijuana sale. He was also accused of trying to rob and shooting at or into Damiona Boyd.
The killing occurred at a business in the 3000 block of Contract Avenue, near Charleston and Eastern boulevards.
In his closing argument, Ingram tried to poke holes in the prosecution’s case.
“All these faulty allegations erupted and were being insinuated after a traffic stop, (during) which I was racially profiled, criticized,” said Ingram.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Elizabeth Mercer objected.
“Stop it,” Chief District Judge Tierra Jones told the defendant. “That is sustained. That is not the testimony that was given.”
The Las Vegas Review-Journal previously reported that Ingram was stopped by a patrol officer who spotted the car he was driving after police distributed a surveillance photo of the slaying suspect’s car. The car Ingram was driving at the time of the stop matched the description of the one the suspect drove.
Authorities found clothing that matched what the gunman wore in his residence, according to police.
Mercer told jurors that Ingram had asked them to speculate, when reasonable doubt cannot be based on speculation.
“What we are required to do is prove these allegations beyond a reasonable doubt,” she said. “What we are required to do is present enough evidence in this courtroom that you are left with an abiding conviction of the truth of the charges in this case.”
“We have met that burden,” she added.
Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com.
