A Maryland man has been dealt a six-year prison sentence for obstructing the investigation into the 2017 murder of Meiko Locksley, son of University of Maryland football coach Mike Locksley. John Willie Kennedy Jr., also known by the aliases “Cognac” and “Yak,” confessed to making false statements to a federal grand jury concerning the whereabouts of his location during the homicide of Meiko Locksley, who was found shot in Columbia, "according to prosecutors" detailed by a WTOP report.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland disclosed that despite Kennedy's initial claim that he did not witness the shooting said he was at home when he heard the shots claims that were flanked by his 911 call to report the incident, phone records eventually revealed a different story, showing a series of calls between Kennedy and the victim before Locksley's death; this, along with later findings, would ultimately lead to his guilty plea of obstruction, according to details released in a news article.
Discrepancies in Kennedy's account became apparent after the review of his phone's location data indicated he was actually present in the parking lot outside Locksley's townhouse at the time of the murder a finding contrary to his claims of being inside his home. In April 2021, Kennedy compounded his deceit by lying to a federal grand jury before witnesses contradicted his testimony, revealing he was seen near the crime scene immediately before and following the incident carrying suspicion that he indeed held culpability in the moments leading to Locksley's death, "according to prosecutors" as reported by MoCo360.
Following his admission to obstructing the investigation into the unsolved case, Kennedy now faces six years behind bars as well as a subsequent three-year period of supervised release. As reported by WTOP, despite his sentencing, the murder of Meiko Locksley remains unsolved, with no other suspects currently charged in connection with the case that has hung over the University of Maryland community since 2017.
