A 16-year-old girl accused of manslaughter in the October 2024 shooting death of a teenage boy in Marion Oaks has been found guilty and is now facing the possibility of 30 years in prison.
Last week, Marion County jurors briefly deliberated before finding Jada Spence, 16, guilty of aggravated manslaughter of a child with a firearm. She was tried as an adult, and the charge stems from a fatal shooting that occurred on Wednesday, October 23, 2024.
On that date, at around 6 p.m., Marion County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a residence in the Marion Oaks subdivision following reports of a shooting. Upon arrival, they found a teenager, later identified as 14-year-old Marshaun Jones, who was deceased from an apparent gunshot wound.
According to MCSO, detectives launched an investigation, which revealed that Spence, Jones, and four other teens had gathered at the home to “hang out and smoke marijuana.”
Witnesses told detectives that they heard a gunshot, followed by Spence exclaiming that she “didn’t know it was loaded.” The sheriff’s office said that security footage obtained during the investigation corroborated these statements.
While speaking with law enforcement, Spence initially denied shooting Jones, claiming that the gun involved in the incident had accidentally fired when “someone dropped it.”
However, during a follow-up interview, MCSO stated that Spence admitted to hearing Jones pull the trigger of the gun, which led her to believe that the firearm was unloaded. She then reportedly admitted to grabbing the firearm, pointing it at Jones’ face, and pulling the trigger.
Spence was 14 years old at the time of the incident.
On November 21, 2024, MCSO detectives arrested Spence on the aggravated manslaughter charge, and prosecutors announced the following month that she would be tried as an adult.
Spence’s trial began on Thursday, April 23, 2026, and it ended the next day when the six-person jury returned the guilty verdict.
A sentencing hearing for Spence has not yet been scheduled. She is facing a maximum sentence of 30 years.