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Jessie
CAMPBELL III
Classification: Murderer
Characteristics:
Shooting spree
Number of victims: 2
Date of murders: August 26, 2000
Date of arrest:
September 5, 2000
Date of birth: September 9, 1979
Victims profile:
LaTaysha Logan, 20, and Desiree Privette, 18
Method of murder:
Shooting
Location: Hartford, Connecticut,
USA
Status:
Sentenced to death on August 16, 2007
Jessie Campbell III was
convicted of capital felony, murder, attempted murder, first-degree
assault and weapons violations for Aug. 26, 2000, shooting deaths in
Hartford of 20-year-old LaTaysha Logan and 18-year-old Desiree
Privette; and the shooting of Privette's aunt, Carolyn Privette.
Campbell was condemned to death on August 16, 2007.
Jessie Campbell shot the mother of his son while
she was visiting a friend’s home. After shooting his estranged
girlfriend, he turned the gun on her friend and the friend’s aunt.
Only the aunt survived the shootings by cowering below Campbell and
pretending to be dead. After the murders, Campbell burned the clothes
he was wearing and fled to Michigan. He was captured shortly after and
brought back to Connecticut for the murders.
Defense attempted to establish that Campbell’s
father was addicted to crack and negatively influenced Campbell’s
upbringing. Other evidence demonstrated that Campbell possessed an
I.Q. of 78. Campbell’s defense team also stated they were going to
challenge lethal injection as cruel and unusual punishment and attack
the "capricious and arbitrary" manner in which prosecutors elect to
seek a capital conviction.
Prosecutor(s): Vicki Mechiorre and Dennis O’Connor
Defense lawyer(s): David Smith and Ronald Gold
Sources: The Hartford Courant 8/18/2007 (2007 WLNR
16182886), 8/17/2007 (2007 WLNR 16017106); AP Alert - Connecticut
8/17/2007
