A Burlington man convicted of killing an LGBTQ teen in 2016 has lost his appeal.
Jaron Purham, 28, was found guilty of first-degree murder in a 2018 trial and sentenced to life imprisonment. Purham and another man, Jorge Sanders-Galvez, were accused of killing 16-year-old Kedarie Johnson, who was gender-fluid and often dressed and presented as female.
Prosecutors said at trial that Purham and Sanders-Galvez picked up Johnson intending to have sex, and upon learning Johnson was biologically male, killed him. Johnson s body was found in a Burlington alley with a plastic bag forced down his throat, another over his head, and two bullet wounds to his chest.