Jaron Purham

A jury trial for a man charged with first degree murder in the death of a Burlington teenager begins in Washington next week.

Twenty-five-year-old Jaron Narelle Purham is charged in the March 2, 2016 death of 16-year-old Kedarie Johnson, a gender-fluid Burlington High School student. The trial for the Des Moines County case has been moved to Washington County due to extensive media coverage. Kedarie’s body was found with two bullet holes in his chest in a Burlington alley. Another man charged in the death, 24-year-old Jorge Sanders-Galvez was sentenced to life in prison in December 2017 after being found guilty by a jury trial. Prosecutors alleged at Sander-Galvez’s trial that he and Purham picked up Kedarie believing he was female. When they discovered he wasn’t, prosecutors say the pair became angry and tortured Kedarie by shoving a plastic bag down his throat and over his head before taking him to the alley where he was shot. The trial for Purham begins at 9 a.m. September 25th at the Washington County Courthouse.