A Tennessee jury astonishingly found five bounty hunters not guilty in the killing of 24-year-old Jalen Johnson Milan despite video evidence and witness testimony proving their involvement in his death.

Seven bounty hunters opened fire on Johnson Milan in April 2017 after mistaking him for another man who had skipped bail. Police said Johnson Milan was sitting in a car with three friends in a Clarksville Walmart parking lot when the seven men ran menacingly toward them with their guns out.

The bounty hunters apparently tried to set up a fake drug deal to catch the man they were after, but they eventually just ran toward the car with their guns raised. They broke the car windows, and the car's driver tried to get away, believing the men were part of a gang trying to rob them.

One of the bounty hunters opened fire on the car and shot Johnson Milan in the back and chest, killing him. He leaves behind three young children. The driver of the car was shot in the neck but managed to survive.

The seven men were facing 16 charges that included first-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder, aggravated assault and kidnapping.

Prosecutors gave plea deals to two of the men in the hopes that their testimony would solidify the case against the other five, which it did not.

In exchange for their testimony, prosecutors dropped the murder charges against Jonathan Schnepp Jr. and Kenneth Chiasson. Schnepp entered an open plea to three counts of aggravated assault, but all of the other charges against him were dropped. Prosecutors dropped all of the charges against Chiasson in exchange for just his testimony.

William Byles II, Antwon Keese, Roger West Jr., Joshua Young and Prentice Williams were also on trial for killing Johnson Milan.

The men claimed they were acting in self-defense because they thought someone in the car had a gun. Police said no gun was found in the vehicle.

During the trial, the men changed their story and said they opened fire because some of them were initially hit by the car.

Prosecutors provided the jury with three weeks worth of testimony from 50 witnesses and more than 200 pieces of evidence, but it still was not enough to convict the men. Only Young was convicted on a minor reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon charge.

In response to the shooting, Tennessee State Representative Joe Pitts tried to pass a law in 2017 that set up more rules for bounty hunters, but it was struck down. In 2018, the state passed a lukewarm rule that said bounty hunters have to wear clothes that identify them as bounty hunters.

“Jalen was like the class clown, the life of the party,” Johnson Milan's father Baron Jenkins told WKRN Tennessee.

“Everybody loved Jalen he was just a real lovable guy, and an awesome father.”

Bounty-Hunters

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