After being freed from juvenile incarceration early, a teen killer whose low sentence served as a catalyst for efforts to recall Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón was charged with armed robbery. According to an internal LAPD letter released by Fox News reporter Bill Melugin, Jalen Amir Yoakum, 23, was arrested this month along with two other suspects and charged with using a stolen pistol in the heist of Rolex watches.
Yoakum was 17 years old when he was charged with killing 40-year-old Ontario Courtney in September 2017. According to the police, Courtney was an innocent driver who was mistaken for a member of a rival gang after his car broke down. Prosecutors cited Yoakum's social media posts from behind bars boasting of his gang allegiance with the Main Street Mafia Crips as well as videos showing him 'practicing' drive-by shootings with a paintball gun while charging him as an adult in the case.
Jalen Amir Yoakum is 23 years old.
However, once Gascón entered office in late 2020, the DA forbade prosecuting minors as adults, moved Yoakum's case to juvenile court, and dropped all charges of gang membership and possessing a firearm against him. Yoakum admitted to murder, but because he was charged as a minor, he was supposed to be released in 2025 when he reached 25.
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However, he was reportedly released earlier than expected for unknown reasons.The drive to recall Gascón was eventually unsuccessful, but the case served as a focal point. The organization behind the recall effort posted on social media that "violent criminals like Jalen Yoakum know that George Gascón is their biggest advocate."
The progressive prosecutor Gascón made the prohibition of adult charges for minors a defining feature of his reforms. Gascón has fought for greater tolerance and rehabilitation for criminal offenders. In 2021, when he reflected on his first 100 days in office, Gascón declared, "We have ended the practice of prosecuting children as adults." We have dropped 77 pending motions to transfer minors to adult court since taking office, according to the statement.
Now that Yoakum has been arrested once again, Gascón's detractors may have another avenue of attack as he runs for reelection in November 2024 against a growing number of opponents. Yoakum was detained alongside James Garrett and Charles Emmerson on August 2 in connection with an armed robbery of a Rolex watch near the intersection of Beverly Boulevard and Harper Avenue, according to LAPD records that Melugin made available.
A white Infiniti Q50, of which Emmerson is supposedly the registered owner, was seen at the site and used by police to link the suspects to the crime. All three defendants were accused of felony robbery, and Yoakum was also accused of having a stolen, loaded gun in his hands. According to county records, Yoakum was detained on felony charges on August 9 in the Wilshire Division.
He is being detained in custody at Men's Central without bond. He is scheduled to appear in court again on Thursday, but it was unclear if he had an attorney present.On Saturday, DailyMail.com contacted the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office for comment, but they did not respond right away. Fox 11 reported two years ago that the family of the murder victim Courtney was incensed that Yoakum had been moved to the juvenile court.
According to Allyson Ostrowski, an attorney for the family, "if you wanna go out there and act like a man and shoot and kill people, then you should be treated that way." Mr. Yoakum has been involved with the criminal justice system since he was 12 years old, and despite being offered service after service and program after program, Ostrowski said he hasn't taken advantage of any of them.
"You've just stayed in the gang, which makes you one of the people who needs to be tried as an adult," the speaker said.On September 13, 2017, Courtney's automobile broke down when he was traveling on South Hoover Street, a street under the jurisdiction of the Hoover street gang.
Gang members from Yoakum's Main Street Mafia Crips group attacked him while he was waiting for a tow truck because they thought he belonged to the rival Hoovers. After being shot 36 times, Courtney passed away. His family claims that he was the victim of mistaken identity and had nothing to do with street gangs. Ontario Courtney's younger sister, Aja Courtney, told the neighborhood Fox affiliate that her brother had no gang membership. "I can't even express how much I miss him," she said.
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