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Local
Man Gets 50 Years :
Mom Of Victim Tells Other Mothers, ‘Don’t Give Up’
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
On April 8, 2015, Jar- rod Coachman, Jr., was shot as he rode a motor bike in the Highland Pines area. He was transported to a local hospital. Coachman died on April 15, 2015, after slipping into a coma. He had celebrated his 23rd birthday on March 30th.
Although he was shot in the head, Coachman was able to tell police who shot him. Two days after the shooting, detectives with the
JARROD COACHMAN, JR. 3/30/1992 —- 4/15/2015
Tampa Police Department arrested Tydarrious De-
quan Kirkland, who was 18-years-old at the time. He was charged with aggra- vated battery with a firearm. The charge was upgraded to second-degree murder after Coachman died.
Ms. Rhonda Oglesby
was devastated by the death of her son. However, she was shocked by the sentence Kirkland was given. On February 6, 2017, Kirk- land pleaded guilty to sec- ond-degree murder. He was sentenced to 8 years of pro- bation.
At the time of the sen- tencing, Ms. Oglesby said, “Justice was not served. My son identified the person who shot him and that didn’t mean anything. I’m not asking to replace a life with a life. I forgive him and I told him that.”
Ms. Oglesby said wit- nesses in the case changed their stories.
The spokesperson for the Hillsborough County State Attorney’s Office at that time said in a written state- ment, “Part of our goal at the State Attorney’s Office is to make our community safer and seek justice on be- half of the victim and the victim’s family. Our job is complicated when we have witnesses reluctant to come forward in a ‘no snitch’ cul-
TYDARRIOUS KIRKLAND ... Sentenced to 50 years
in prison
ture.”
She further said prosecu-
tors had fought to get a lengthy probation with strict conditions against the defendant.
Kirkland surrendered to police on July 3, 2017 on active warrants on new charges. He was charged with armed robbery, petit theft, and tampering with a witness.
Kirkland went to court on the violation of probation charge on February 14, 2018, and Ms. Oglesby was in court.
“I never missed a court date. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the murder,” she said.
According to the Hills- borough County Sheriff’s Office Jail webpage, Kirk-
land was sentenced to 15 years on the murder charge and 5 years to run consecu- tive to the 15-year sentence for violation of probation for carrying a concealed firearm.
She still doesn’t under- stand how Kirkland was placed on probation in the first place. “My son told the police who shot him. A dying declaration has no weight in Court.
“I just want to tell other mothers who are going through what I am going through, not to give up. The community can feel a little bit safer now that one of these young men who likes to take people’s lives is going to prison. The com- munity can feel safer,” Ms. Oglesby said.
According to the Hills- borough County State Attor- ney’s Office, Kirkland was sentenced to an additional 5 years in prison on the rob- bery charge and 30 years for tampering with a witness on Tuesday, June 5th. The two sentences are to run concur- rent with the sentence handed down in February, the spokesperson said.
Jarrod was the fourth of five children born to Ms. Oglesby. He left behind a son, two brothers and two sisters.
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