HOUSTON — The jury deciding the fate of Lazarius Harper, who was convicted of manslaughter Monday in the 2021 road rage shooting death of Kevin Kirk, has gone home for the day without reaching a decision on his sentence.
After deliberating for several hours Wednesday, jurors told the judge they were deadlocked, but he told them to keep trying. They went home for the day around 5 p.m. and will return Thursday morning.
Kirk was on Westheimer after picking up dinner for his family when a group of ATVs surrounded his vehicle and tried to pull him out, Houston police said. Harper shot the father of two as he tried to drive. Kirk died in his car after crashing a few blocks away.
Harper was out on bond for evading arrest when it happened.
"Today is not the day to compromise, today is not the day to meet in the middle, today is not the day to negotiate," prosecutor Chandler Raine told the jury. "The last time that Lazarius Harper was allowed to be given rules and say you get to go be in the rest of the community, you get to go be in the rest of society, you get to go be out on bond, was one month before he killed Kevin Kirk."
Prosecutors want the maximum punishment of 20 years.
But defense attorneys say that Kirk intentionally ran into Harper before he shot him and they asked for probation.
"Don't fall trap to those emotional pleas, that's all they are. Only one person is going be affected by your decision today and that's Lazarius," defense attorney Maverick Ray said.
Tempers flare over testimony Tuesday
Things got heated on Tuesday when Ray shouted at prosecutors in a Houston courtroom on Tuesday was reprimanded by the very angry judge.
The attorneys had a sidebar with the judge after prosecutors mentioned that the defendant was in a gang, citing his own social media.
Harper's attorney was animated and throwing his arms up before he slammed his fists down and screamed at the prosecutor.
"Why? Why didn't you ask them the truth first?" he said.
The judge quickly had the jurors removed from the courtroom and then he blasted the attorney.
"Don't you ever raise your voice in this courtroom again, do you understand? Is that clear?" Judge Danilo Lacayo shouted. "Never disrespect the court in front of the jury, in front of anyone, ever, ever again! Let's get that clear right now!"
Who was Kevin Kirk?
Several friends and neighbors testified about Kirk's character during the sentencing phase. They described him as a family man who was kind and generous.
He left behind a wife, a 12-year-old daughter and a 9-year-old son.
"Kevin was an extraordinary man who baked amazing birthday cakes and was an Ironman Athlete and avid cyclist. He was also a protector of all life, including bugs," a GoFundMe.com page said.
Detectives didn't have much to go on initially so police offered a reward.
“This is a father of two young kids going to grab dinner that gets gunned down on Westheimer. This is not how we are going to live, and we are not going to allow these things to happen," CEO of Crime Stoppers Rania Mankarious said at a news conference.
Cheryl Draper was driving down Westheimer the night Kirk was killed.
"This is not a normal way for people to have to live -- that you go to the grocery store or you are going out to dinner and something happens and you are dead," Draper said. "It's just like cold-blooded murder; didn't even hesitate. Pulled out a gun and shot someone."
