A Lake County judge sentenced a Gary man to 68 years Friday for a “revenge killing” inside a Little Caesars off Grant Street.
Jami Long, 25, was convicted in January of murder and a gun enhancement in the June 14, 2024, death of Kejuan Patton, 26, of Gary. He argued the shooting was in self-defense and testified on his own behalf at trial.
Prosecutors alleged Patton was part of a group that beat Long and stole his gun a month earlier.
Long said he would appeal.
Police responded at 7:20 p.m. on June 14, 2024, to the pizzeria, 2560 Garfield St.
Stacy Haney testified at trial she dropped off Patton and her daughter, 9, to get pizzas. Within a minute after Long and another man came back from the adjacent gas station, Patton sent the girl running back to the car to protect her.
When the woman called Patton, she overheard a “tense” conversation between Patton and Long. Patton said he would fight the man, but wouldn’t use a gun.
She left, then tried to call Patton again, who didn’t answer. By the time she came back, emergency vehicles were already there.
Janine Idubor, Patton’s aunt, said in court Friday that he was a “jokester” with a smile that “lit up the room.”
She noted she had to drive on the Borman Expressway past the Grant Street exit “nearly every day.” Their family was “searching for a way to forgive you,” she told Long.
Deputy Prosecutor Milana Petersen argued it was a premeditated killing. When Long saw Patton, he went back to a vehicle to get a gun, she said. Patton was unarmed. Long blocked the front door and opened fire in the crowded pizzeria, she said. Petersen asked for 70 years.
Defense lawyer Herb Shaps argued Long was “sincere” and “remorseful.” He was young and his decision-making was “at best horrible,” he said.
Long wasn’t “stalking” Patton and “wasn’t looking to kill a person that day,” the lawyer said. “He thought he had a right to act in self-defense.”
He asked for 55 years.
Petersen retorted that plenty of time has passed since the beating. A lot of 20-somethings have still-developing brains, but aren’t “killing anyone.”
Long declined to speak in court.
Judge Samuel Cappas called it a “revenge killing,” saying there was no justification. Patton was unarmed and on his cell phone for most of the time, the store’s video showed.
After the hearing, Idubor said Patton’s family didn’t know what led to the original fight. Around the time of his death, Patton worked at the Ford plant.
At the Little Caesars, when he saw Long, Patton sent the girl to the car immediately – a move that may have saved her life. She said he didn’t flee, afraid Long would follow him and hurt Haney and the girl.
“The video speaks for itself,” she said of Long’s actions. Patton was a “protector.”
Idubor extended her sympathies to Long’s family.
His “family will be grieving,” she said. “That’s a life sentence. We want justice. His family is losing a life as well.”
mcolias@post-trib.com; Post-Tribune archives contributed.
