Jury to decide fate of juvenile convicted in Lamar HS shooting

On Tuesday, the 15-year-old behind a shooting at Lamar High School in Arlington earlier this year will find out his fate in court.

The student pleaded "true" last week to capital murder and three counts of attempted capital murder. A jury began the process to decide how much time he will spend behind bars.

The now convicted 15-year-old – who is not being named because he is a minor – could face up to 40 years in prison for the shooting death of Ja’Shawn Poirer. That's the maximum sentence under Texas law for a minor who is not tried as an adult.

However, a sentence as light as probation is also a possibility.

On Tuesday morning, Judge Alex Kim addressed the minor before the jury was allowed inside the courtroom.

“I’ve been told you told your attorney you wish to not wear your civilian clothes but would rather wear the prison uniform. This is your trial. You make the decision about your life. My role is not to make a decision but just to make sure law is followed. I do want to make sure you understand the situation you are in,” Kim said.

Kim warned how the attire could sway the jury’s decision on the minor’s fate.

“The fact that you're coming in your issued uniform, which is fine, that is your right, but that is something they may take into consideration. Do you understand? Is it your voluntary decision to wear the clothes you're wearing?”

“Yes, sir,” the minor said.

Investigators said back in March, the 15-year-old suspect brought a shotgun and fired into a crowd of students on the steps outside Lamar High School before classes began that day.

Poirer – who had just moved to Arlington from Michigan at the beginning of the school year – was killed and another student was wounded.

The female survivor, alias Unique, was in the courtroom Tuesday.

"I didn't go to school at all for a week and a half," Unique said. "And thunder is now something that puts me on edge and wakes me up in the middle of the night. Just because it sounds so much like a gunshot."

Unique was not a student at Lamar High School and had no relation to the now convicted shooter. Unique told the jury she remembers it was a cold morning as she waited for her bus along with other students.

"In the mornings, I have a bus stop that's close to my house. And from Lamar, another bus will take me to my school.

Unique said she heard one gunshot.

“Everybody became more alert than they were in the first place and were looking around,” Unique said. “It was dark and no one could really see anything.”

She said it was after the second gunshot that students ran for safety. A picture of Unique’s wound was shown to the jury.

“Right here on the bottom left side of my face,” Unique said.

Back in April, Poirer's mother spoke with NBC 5 about life since that tragic day.

"This is the worst pain I've ever felt,” said Rashone Jacob. "I am so, so, so, sorry that this happened to you. I still got your back and I'm going to fight to the end until justice is served."

While a motive has been debated in court proceedings over the last several months, detectives believe the two boys did not know each other.

Detective Vanessa Barnes with Arlington Police Department’s Crimes Against Children Unit was called to the witness stand Tuesday afternoon.

She testified about her investigation surrounding the shooter’s claims of sexual assault.

“He said it happened on October 22 at Lamar High School in a male bathroom,” Barnes said.

However, that investigation was later closed and not proven true.

“I didn’t have enough evidence or information to support the statement provided,” Barnes said.

The judge ordered the psychological evaluation on Sept. 11 to determine if the defendant was fit to stand trial. A hearing for the evaluation was held last week and the defendant was deemed competent.

Meantime, the father of the 15-year-old was sentenced earlier this month to more than six years in federal prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Court documents had said the gun his son used in the shooting belonged to him.

Day of the punishment phase wrapped up just before 4 p.m. Tuesday at the Tarrant County Juvenile Court. The jury was asked to return at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday.