COLUMBIA COUNTY, Fla. — The first of three suspects in the August 2023 murder of a Lake City 12-year-old has been tried and found guilty by a jury.
17-year-old Jayden Burch learned the verdict Wednesday, just days after the 2nd anniversary of Mariah Smith’s death in her own home on NW Long Street.
Investigators said Burch and two other teenagers fired into the house in retaliation for a fight that happened earlier in the day at Columbia County High School.
According to Burch’s arrest report, around 25 spent bullet casings were found around the home. Mariah died after being shot in the head.
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Burch, who was 15 years old at the time of the shooting, was tried and convicted as an adult for second-degree murder and two counts of attempted second-degree murder.
Then-14-year-old suspect Jatarious Fluellen II, and then-17-year-old Matthew Rice have not yet been tried.
Burch is scheduled to be sentenced on October 13.
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