Burlington, Ia- A Burlington man convicted of the murder of an LGBTQ teen has lost his appeal.
The Hawk Eye reports that 28-year-old Jaron Purham was sentenced to life in prison in 2018 after being convicted of first-degree murder. He and another man were accused of killing 16-year-old Kedarie Johnson.
Johnson was found dead in a Burlington alley with a plastic bag over his head, one down his throat, and two gunshot wounds to the chest.
Purham appealed the verdict citing insufficiency of evidence and ineffective legal representation. However, the three-judge panel on Thursday upheld the conviction saying the court had plenty of evidence to support a case of premeditated murder.
