Christopher Harrison found guilty of second degree murder

Posted on June 15, 2020
Text messages and evidence found at the scene revealed the two came armed when they visited Harrison on the night of April 25. (Photo courtesy: HOI/ABC)

By Heart of Illinois ABC

BLOOMINGTON – A McLean County jury has found Christopher Harrison guilty of second degree murder in the 2018 killing of Reginald Hart Jr and Joseph Gardner.

The jury of nine men and three women reached their decision after deliberating for three and half hours over two days.

Both the defense and prosecution agreed that Harrison, who was 17 at the time, shot and killed Hart and Gardner after the two tried to rob him at his Normal Apartment on April 25, 2018. The state said while Hart and Gardner may have tried to rob him, Harrison could have let him go. Instead, they said Harrison chose to chase after them, shooting them in the back 21 times with an AR-15 style rifle.

Throughout the proceedings, defense Attorney Kevin Sanborn said Gardner and Hart were responsible for their own deaths, saying they planned to rob Harrison after a business arrangement involving drugs fell apart between the three. Text messages and evidence found at the scene revealed the two came armed when they visited Harrison on the night of April 25. Sanborn said his client was legally defending himself and his property when he killed Gardner and Hart in his apartment building’s stairwell.

Heart of Illinois ABC can be reached at [email protected]. 

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