LIMA, OH (WLIO) - Another teenager connected to the death of Jaden Halpern back in June of 2022 has been sentenced.
19-year-old Keion Darden was sentenced to 23 to 28 years in prison. He previously accepted a plea deal where he pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter and aggravated robbery in exchange for the rest of the charges dropped. Darden, along with Khyrese Garner, Jaquan Glenn, Bryanna Houston, and two other underage teens, were charged when Lima police say the group tried to lure Halpern out of his Lane Avenue home. When they couldn't get him to come out, some of them allegedly forced their way into the house carrying air rifles. Halpern's dad saw the weapons and fired a shot, which hit his son in the process and killed him.
"It hurts me, not that my life was on the line, but somebody else's life got taken. It's no better than you know the person that brought them in this world, I just came and took him out on behalf of the decisions that I made with a couple of knuckleheads. It wasn't right. I'm sorry to the court, I'm sorry to his family, I am sorry to my family," stated Keion Darden, defendant.
Darden will receive 366 days credit for the time he has already spent in jail.
