Former Georgia Tech and NBA standout Javaris Crittenton will be released from prison after serving 10 years in custody following a woman’s shooting death in August 2011, a Fulton County judge ruled Friday. A release date has not been set but it could be any day, according to his attorney, Brian Steel.
“I am delighted that Mr. Crittenton will be released from custody and begin his efforts to assist our next generation not to fall to the poisons of gangs, violence and drugs,” Steel told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Friday. “Mr. Crittenton is in a unique position to teach the younger generation how bad it is to be involved in the criminal justice system and how bad it is to be involved with guns and gangs.”
In 2015, Crittenton was sentenced to 23 years in the fatal shooting of Julian Jones, a mother of four, after pleading guilty to charges including voluntary manslaughter and aggravated assault. He had already served some time prior to trial. After the plea and sentencing, former Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard agreed to a reduced sentence if Crittenton could demonstrate he’d learned from his mistakes.
Crittenton’s attorney filed a motion to have the sentence modified, and a hearing was held last week. That’s when Crittenton learned he would soon be free. Within hours of the judge agreeing to reduce the sentence, current DA Fani Willis filed a motion to stop it. Willis previously represented Crittenton as his attorney.
“Upon further review of the case, the Fulton County District Attorney’s office lacked jurisdiction to consent to this resentencing because of a conflict of interest,” the DA’s motion filed last week stated. “The Fulton County District Attorney’s office moves this court to rescind the resentencing order and reinstate the original sentence.”
On Friday, Judge Charles Eaton said even though Willis once represented Crittenton, that didn’t disqualify anyone else in her office from being involved in the case, his ruling states.
“It did not appear that District Attorney Fani Willis was involved in the modification process nor that she had any knowledge that the court was set to hear the Motion to Modify Sentence pursuant to terms negotiated prior to her tenure,” Eaton wrote in his ruling. “In effect, District Attorney Willis was ‘screened from any direct or indirect participation’ in the modification as the matter was handled by an Assistant District Attorney assigned to manage cases for which District Attorney may have had a conflict.”
Once released, Crittenton must complete 7,200 hours of community service in 10 years and wear a monitoring system at his expense. He will also mentor others and help them not make the mistakes he did.
Jones was killed on Aug. 19, 2011, in a drive-by shooting outside of her southeast Atlanta home. Crittenton later admitted he was firing shots at a man he believed had previously robbed him, his attorney has said.
Crittenton and his cousin and co-defendant, Douglas Gamble, were initially charged with murder, felony murder, attempted murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime and participation in criminal street gang activity. They pleaded guilty to lesser charges. Gamble, who was with Crittenton at the time of the shooting, was sentenced to three years in custody.
During last week’s hearing, Jones’ mother spoke and said she has been raising two of her grandchildren since her daughter’s shooting death; the others are with their father.
“They always think about their mom,” she said. “Their mom is a major part of their life. And what he took from them wasn’t even fair.”
Crittenton is a former AJC “Mr. Basketball” and high school star at Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy. After playing at Tech, Crittenton was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers in 2007 NBA Draft and traded his rookie year to the Memphis Grizzlies.
While playing for the Washington Wizards, Crittenton was involved in a December 2009 locker room incident with then-teammate Gilbert Arenas in which the two pulled guns on each other. On Jan. 25, 2010, Crittenton pleaded guilty and was given a year of probation on a misdemeanor gun possession charge. Two days later, Crittenton and Arenas were suspended for the rest of the season.
— Staff writer Shaddi Abusaid contributed to this article.
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