NORFOLK, Va. — The family of Norfolk State University student Jahari George says they want the world to know who he was — not just how he died.
“Jahari was before his time… he did everything early. He walked early, he talked early,” said his mother, TeAnna George. “He takes pride and ownership in everything that he does. His goal was always to leave a place better than when he got there.”
TeAnna described her son as talented, curious, and competitive.
“He’s the glue. He’s the Game Master. The goal when we have family game nights is to beat him. It’s not to win the game, really. It’s to beat him,” she said, laughing.
Jahari, of Maryland, was a 20-year-old electrical engineering student he was shot and killed while sitting in a car with friends on September 2, 2023, just off Norfolk State’s campus.
Last Friday, a jury found Cameron Brown not guilty of first-degree murder and using a firearm in the commission of a felony.
The jury was deadlocked on a charge of maliciously shooting at a car, which means the Commonwealth will retry Brown on that charge at a later date.
Brown was granted a $5,000 surety bond, meaning he’ll remain in jail until the bond is paid. Once it is, he must follow conditions set by the judge.
TeAnna sat through the entire trial.
“I tried to stay out of my mind because I’m that person that will definitely try to solve a problem and figure out what the best resources are,” she said. “As long as the Commonwealth did their job in presenting the evidence and laying out the story… we just had to put it in the system’s hands — a system that’s very broken.”
When the not guilty verdict came down, she says, “Honestly, I don’t know what went through my mind. My body kind of took over... So I’m not really sure, other than ‘not again.'
She believes the jury did its job but says the system still failed her family.
“I don’t blame the jury because they were doing their job, and they had to do what they had to do with what they were given. Again, it’s a very broken system that we didn’t ask to be a part of — we were thrown into it, and we had to navigate it the best we could.”
TeAnna says the verdict didn’t bring closure.
“It doesn’t end anything, and it doesn’t close anything,” she said. “I just have to figure out how to carry this — and make sure his little sister is okay.”
When asked what she would say to Jahari if she could talk to him now, she paused before answering.
“That I’m proud of him, that I miss him, and that I really tried,” she said.
Jahari’s legacy, she says, will live on through a $25,000 scholarship endowment being created in his name at Norfolk State University.
“They personally made a $25,000 endowment, and they want us to take it over. They want us to help decide the criteria,” she said.
