Murder charge in shooting outside Center City 7-Eleven downgraded to voluntary manslaughter
John Kelly is accused of fatally shooting 33-year-old Lauren Jardine during an altercation outside the convenience store at 12th and Chestnut Streets.
The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office on Tuesday said the 45-year-old man charged with fatally shooting a woman during an altercation outside a 7-Eleven store in Center City will be charged with the lesser offense of voluntary manslaughter instead of murder based on new evidence.
John Kelly had been charged with murder and related offenses in the shooting death of 33-year-old Lauren Jardine outside the convenience store at 12th and Chestnut Streets on Friday evening.
New video recovered by investigators showed that Jardine attempted to stab Kelly with a screwdriver before he shot her, according to a law enforcement source familiar with the case.
The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation, said the video showed Jardine intervening in an argument between Kelly and his girlfriend, both of whom are homeless and were known to stay outside the 7-Eleven. The video does not have audio, the source said.
Jardine and Kelly then began arguing, and multiple people attempted to separate them, the source said. The video then shows Jardine pulled out a gun, which prosecutors said Monday she was carrying illegally.
Kelly pulled out a screwdriver in response, the source said, and Jardine, Kelly, and Kelly’s girlfriend then began to struggle over the screwdriver and the gun. At one point, Jardine took hold of the screwdriver, and Kelly took the gun. As Jardine sought to stab Kelly with the screwdriver, he shot her, the source said.
The district attorney’s office said in a statement that after reviewing the new evidence, prosecutors are “downgrading charges” to voluntary manslaughter, felony firearms violations, and related offenses.
Staff at the district attorney’s office “have been in communication with the victim’s family to offer critical and necessary support during this investigative and criminal justice process,” the office said. “As this remains an ongoing investigation, we have no further comment at this time.”
Jardine’s family declined to comment on the change Tuesday.
Jardine, of West Philadelphia, was shot in the lower back and one hand. She was rushed to nearby Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, where she died a short time later.
Kelly was arrested near the scene of the shooting.
A preliminary hearing for Kelly, who continues to be held at the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility, is scheduled for Sept. 22.
A spokesperson for the Defender Association of Philadelphia, which represents Kelly, could not be reached for comment.