Man who shot teen outside Jimmy Lee Rec Center sentenced to 10 years in prison

Kelsey Christensen and Josh Skluzacek KSTP

Man who shot teen outside Jimmy Lee Rec Center sentenced to 10 years in prison

The man who pleaded guilty in connection to a shooting outside St. Paul’s Jimmy Lee Recreation Center a little over one year ago learned his punishment on Friday.

Exavir Binford Jr., 27, was sentenced to more than 10 years (125 months) in prison for shooting then-16-year-old JuVaughn Turner in the head on Jan. 18, 2023. Binford, an employee at the rec center at the time, was also ordered to pay $34,000 in restitution to Turner’s mother for medical costs.

That sentence was an upward departure for first-degree assault due to the aggravating factor that several other kids were at the rec center at the time and saw the shooting. Binford was also initially charged with attempted second-degree murder but that was dismissed as part of a plea deal.

Turner’s family says the teen is now living with permanent brain damage, and a statement read in court Friday on behalf of Turner’s mother noted that he still has bone and bullet fragments in his brain that weren’t removed due to their location.

The statement from Turner’s mother said it was “unimaginable” that someone at the rec center would hurt her child, and noted that he now suffers from violent seizures on a regular basis.

Before sentencing Binford, who had nothing to say while appearing virtually from a detention center for the hearing, Judge Joy Bartscher said the case had her “at a loss for words.”

“All I can say is I’m so sorry,” Bartscher told Turner’s family, noting that she understands no amount of jail time would change things back to how they were before the shooting. She also addressed Binford, calling his decisions “horrible” and saying she hopes he finds a way to atone for his actions.

Court documents show two teens got into a fight at the Rec Center, leading to Binford shooting Turner, before he ran away.

Friday’s hearing comes as Turner’s family sues the City of St. Paul, claiming Binford wasn’t adequately disciplined for punching a visitor at a different community center and then threatening to shoot another visitor at the rec center.

St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter spoke about the allegations days after the shooting, saying, “This new information raises questions, not only about his conduct, but our systems to identify investigate and intervene in response to incidents and reports of behavior which fall beneath our standards.”