Jury convicts Camden man in death of 8-year-old girl

Jim Walsh | The Courier-Post

CAMDEN – A jury on Thursday convicted Tyhan Brown in the death of an 8-year-old city girl who was fatally shot by a stray bullet near her home in August 2016.

Gabrielle “Gabby” Hill-Carter was the innocent victim of an ambush attack by three gunmen seeking to kill a rival, authorities said.

Brown was acquitted of murder, but found guilty of aggravated manslaughter in connection with Gabby's death.

He was found guilty of attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder for the attack on the rival, Amir Dixon.

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Jurors deliberated for about 4½ hours over Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning before returning to a packed and tense courtroom around 12:30 p.m.

Gabby's parents, Meresa Carter and Will Phillips, sat quietly with their heads bowed.

In a Facebook post after the verdict, Gabby's mother sent a touching message to her lost daughter.

Well I still have to live with that fact that ur no longer here but Gabby u got ur Justice,' Meresa Carter wrote across a background of pink hearts.

"Rest peacefully baby," added the message, which ended with lips puckered in a kiss.

In a separate post, Phillips said, "Justice is served. God is good."

The verdicts upset Brown's family members and friends, several of whom wailed and rushed from the courtroom in tears.

"I know my son is innocent," Brown's mother, Shakia Land of Camden, said outside the courthouse.

A wall of sheriff's officers screened Brown while the verdicts were read. Afterward, he briefly buried his face in his hands, then swung his arms as he was led from the courtroom.

An indicator of the jury's thinking came around 10:40 a.m. Thursday with a question to Superior Court Judge John Kelley about the legal concept of "transferred intent."

Under transferred intent, a defendant can be held responsible when an attempt to injure one person harms a different victim.

Assistant Camden County Prosecutor Christine Shah had argued Brown and two other gunmen fired 20 shots at Dixon on the 900 block of South 8th Street.

Gabby, who had been riding her bike on a summer evening, was shot once in the head as she ran toward shelter in a neighbor’s home.

She died two days later.

Defense attorney Adam Brent argued no direct evidence placed his client at the crime scene, and noted Dixon denied any feud with Brown.

He also challenged the credibility of two witnesses who testified Brown had implicated himself in the girl’s shooting.

But in an interview after the verdict was announced, the attorney said Brown "in essence dug his own grave" with two Facebook Live posts that were shown by the prosecution.

Brown belittled Dixon in a Facebook video posted a few days before the shooting. In the other, which was covertly made while Brown called his girlfriend from inside Camden County Jail, the defendant warned members of his "gang" about an associate who was cooperating with investigators.

Brent described the trial's outcome as "crushing" for Brown and his family.

"But it was crushing for the other side, too," he said, expressing sympathy for Gabby's family as Brown's mother nodded.

"I hope they find some peace," he said.

WATCH: Reaction to verdict in Camden child slaying Tyhan Brown's attorney and mother speak after his conviction for the slaying of 8-year-old Gabby Hill-Carter of Camden.

About 30 family members and friends of Brown held prayer circles in a courthouse hallway during jury deliberations, holding hands as they prayed for the defendant and the victim.

Kelley revoked Brown's bail of $1.5 million, and set an Aug. 24 sentencing date.

"He's facing probably somewhere between 20 to 50 years," said Brent, noting his client will receive consecutive terms for separate crimes against Gabby and Dixon. Brown also was convicted of two weapons offenses.

"He's going to be out probably in 30 years," the attorney said.

Shah declined to comment, but Camden County Police Chief Scott Thomson said the prosecutor and her team "did an extraordinary job delivering justice for Gabby, her family and the city."

"This verdict sends a strong message to any drug gang coward who pulls the trigger that Camden County law enforcement will not rest until you are removed from society," Thomson said.

Brown left Camden for Tennessee shortly after the shooting, and was held there for several days due to a parole violation for a juvenile offense.

Brent noted a Camden County prosecutor’s detective interrogated Brown for four hours just days after the shooting, but his client was not charged until the jailhouse snitch, Emmett Tolbert, came forward several day later.

Brown was arrested at a relative’s home in Tennessee on Sept. 23, 2016. He previously declined a plea bargain that would have brought a 40-year jail term.

Jim Walsh: @jimwalsh_cp; 856-486-2646; jwalsh@gannettnj.com