An Oklahoma County jury has delivered a guilty verdict in the case of a 19-year-old Canaan Jenkins, who faced charges stemming from a shooting at the Oklahoma State Fair in 2023. The conviction, announced by Oklahoma County District Attorney Vicki Zemp Behenna, found Jenkins responsible for Assault and Battery with a Deadly Weapon, according to Oklahoma County's news release.
The shooting incident disrupted the Bennett Event Center at the Oklahoma State Fair on September 23, 2023, leaving Jaelen Frazier with a gunshot wound. Despite being given a description of the shooter, who fled after the incident, police located Jenkins and transported him for interview to the headquarters of the OCPD, suffering from a gunshot wound, Frazier was treated in the hospital for three weeks and subsequently released. Jenkins initially denied his role as the shooter but later confessed to firing his weapon, claiming self-defense following a breakout fight.
With a range of sentencing for Assault and Battery with a Deadly Weapon going from zero years to life in prison, the jury recommended Jenkins serve eight years in the Oklahoma Department of Corrections. This recommendation came shortly before his formal sentencing, scheduled for June 30. In addition to this charge, Jenkins faces sentencing for a separate incident on the day before the fair shooting, for which he entered a blind plea of guilty for Conjoint Robbery with a potential sentence ranging from five to fifty years.
As the trial concluded, DA Behenna expressed gratitude to the jury for their dedication and attention during the proceedings. "DA Behenna would like to thank the jury for their time and thoughtful consideration during the trial," as reported by the Oklahoma County news. Behenna also commended the investigative work of the police, along with the prosecutors and staff's preparatory efforts for bringing the case to trial, after the rigorous work put in by the prosecutors and staff preparing the case for trial and the police's investigative efforts.
