Across the country, high-profile homicide cases involving non-Black defendants have ended in acquittals or reduced charges. To some, these results reflect how the justice system is supposed to work: guilt must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. But for Black Americans, an eerie pattern emerges when you compare these cases to those involving Black defendants, where prosecutors often pursue harsher charges and juries deliver longer sentences.
Studies done by the U.S. Sentencing Commission, The Marshall Project, and the Office of Justice Programs have documented racial disparities between Black defendants charged with serious crimes versus non-Black defendants. Karmelo Anthony, a Black Texas teenager, received 35 years for murder after claiming self-defense. Black defendants overall are more likely to receive harsher sentences compared to other groups when arguing self-defense. The case of Karmelo Anthony has drawn attention from supporters who question consistency in sentencing, though others maintain justice was served.
A Tale of Two Stabbings
After Anthony’s conviction, observers drew comparisons to a white Texas high schooler accused of fatally stabbing a fellow student on school grounds in 2022. Caysen Allison was charged after the death of Belton High School student Joe Ramirez. Allison was found not guilty of murder and manslaughter but convicted of criminally negligent homicide in connection with the bathroom confrontation, according to KCEN-TV.
At sentencing, the defense emphasized the context around the fight while prosecution focused on the loss of life. The judge imposed a 10-year prison sentence, the maximum allowed under the conviction.
Soon Ja Du
In March 1991, 15-year-old Latasha Harlins entered a Los Angeles convenience store to buy a bottle of orange juice. Store owner Soon Ja Du wrongly accused her of stealing after seeing the juice in her backpack. Surveillance footage showed Harlins had money in hand and was attempting to pay, according to the LA Times. After a brief struggle, Harlins turned to leave when Du shot her in the back of the head.
A jury convicted Du of voluntary manslaughter, but the judge sentenced her to probation, community service, and a fine rather than prison time. The case intensified racial tensions in Los Angeles and became a catalyst for the 1992 riots.
Daniel Penny
Daniel Penny, a former Marine, was acquitted of criminally negligent homicide in the death of Jordan Neely, who died after Penny held him in a chokehold on a New York City subway in 2023. A jury also dismissed a manslaughter charge.
Prosecutors argued Penny used excessive force after Neely, a homeless man experiencing mental illness, made alarming statements on the train. The defense said Penny was protecting himself and other passengers until police arrived. Medical examiners ruled the chokehold caused Neely’s death, but the jury found reasonable doubt about criminal liability, leading to Penny’s acquittal.
Kyle Rittenhouse
In November 2021, a Wisconsin jury found Kyle Rittenhouse not guilty on all charges stemming from the fatal shooting of two men and the wounding of a third during unrest in Kenosha in August 2020. Rittenhouse, who was 17 at the time, argued that he acted in self-defense after being confronted during protests following the police shooting of Jacob Blake. Prosecutors claimed Rittenhouse provoked the violence by bringing an AR-style rifle to the demonstrations.
After more than three days of deliberations, jurors acquitted him of homicide, attempted homicide, and other charges.
James Burke
A Michigan jury found former Warren police officer James Burke not guilty on all charges in connection with a 2024 crash that killed two Black men. Prosecutors alleged Burke was driving at high speed without emergency lights or sirens when his patrol vehicle struck an SUV, resulting in the deaths of Cedric Hayden Jr. and Dejuan Pettis.
They argued his actions were grossly negligent. The defense countered that the collision was an accident, not criminally caused by Burke. After hearing testimony, jurors quickly returned acquittals on all counts, leaving the victims’ families grieving and civil lawsuits pending.
Gerald Stanley
In 2018, the acquittal of Saskatchewan farmer Gerald Stanley in the shooting death of Colten Boushie sparked outrage across Canada. Boushie, a 22-year-old member of the Red Pheasant Cree Nation, was fatally shot after he and friends drove onto Stanley’s farm in 2016.
Stanley claimed the gun discharged accidentally. An all-white jury found him not guilty of second-degree murder and manslaughter, according to the Guardian.
George Zimmerman
In one of the most polarizing cases of the 21st century, George Zimmerman was cleared of all criminal charges in the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed Black teenager. Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer in Sanford, Florida, claimed he fired in self-defense during a struggle with Martin. Prosecutors argued that Zimmerman unnecessarily escalated the encounter after following the teen.
Following two days of deliberations, the jury found insufficient evidence to convict him of murder or manslaughter.
Chikei Rick Chow
In June 2026, a South Carolina jury found convenience store owner Chikei Rick Chow not guilty of murder in the 2023 shooting death of 14-year-old Cyrus Carmack-Belton. The teen was shot in the back after being chased from a Columbia store following an accusation of shoplifting water bottles.
Prosecutors argued Chow acted out of anger and that the teen was fleeing and posed no threat, though they acknowledged a semiautomatic pistol fell during the chase. Chow’s defense claimed he fired to protect his son after believing the teen pointed a gun at him.
Aaron Dean
In December 2022, former Fort Worth police officer Aaron Dean was convicted of manslaughter in the 2019 shooting death of Atatiana Jefferson, a 28-year-old woman killed inside her own home during a welfare check. Jurors rejected the murder charge but found Dean guilty of reckless conduct after evidence showed he fired through a window while responding to a neighbor’s report of an open door.
Dean claimed he believed Jefferson posed a threat. Prosecutors said he failed to properly identify himself as police and escalated the situation unnecessarily. The jury later returned a sentence of 11 years, 10 months, and 12 days in prison.
Elijah McClain
Colorado’s Court of Appeals has ordered new trials for two paramedics convicted in connection with Elijah McClain’s 2019 death, finding that flawed jury instructions may have affected the original verdicts. McClain, a 23-year-old Black man, died after being stopped by Aurora police, restrained, and injected with ketamine by paramedics during an encounter in 2019.
The ruling does not erase all prior accountability. Other officers and responders have faced mixed outcomes, including convictions, acquittals, and sentencing in earlier proceedings.
Johannes Mehserle
A jury found former BART officer Johannes Mehserle guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the 2009 shooting death of Oscar Grant on an Oakland train platform. Prosecutors initially charged him with murder, but jurors convicted him of the lesser charge after deliberation.
Mehserle claimed he mistook his handgun for a Taser while attempting to subdue Grant during a chaotic arrest following a New Year’s Day disturbance. Mehserle was sentenced to two years in prison and released after 11 months in 2011.
Daniel Pantaleo
A grand jury declined to indict NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo in the death of Eric Garner, who died in 2014 after being placed in a chokehold during an arrest for allegedly selling loose cigarettes. Video of the incident showed Garner repeatedly saying, “I can’t breathe,” before losing consciousness, sparking nationwide protests and becoming a symbol of opposition to police brutality.
A medical examiner ruled Garner’s death a homicide caused by neck compression. Prosecutors said they could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Pantaleo intentionally violated the law. The disparity between these outcomes and the mass incarceration of Black defendants reveals a troubling pattern worth examining.
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