Raleigh man convicted in string of home invasions

A Raleigh man was sentenced Friday to at least 263 years in prison after he was convicted of a series of burglaries and violent home invasions in 2012 and 2013, including one in Raleigh's Oakwood neighborhood that left a man paralyzed.

Jurors deliberated for about six hours over two days before finding Jahaad Tariem Allah Marshall, 27, guilty on 22 charges, including attempted first-degree murder, first-degree sexual offense, attempted rape, three counts of first-degree burglary and four counts of first-degree kidnapping.

Superior Court Judge Henry Hight sentenced Marshall to 263 to 328 years in prison on the charges, calling the home invasions "evil" and noting that they displayed "an escalation of violence."

Marshall wiped tears from his eyes as defense attorney Deonte Thomas pleaded for "a light at the end of the tunnel" for him. Thomas said Marshall's family provided no support for him and that he was sorry for the crimes.

"If he knew better, he would do better," Thomas said.

Marshall also quietly apologized. "I wish none of this would have ever happened," he said.

Two of the home invasions occurred on Dec. 26, 2012, and more violent home invasions happened on Dec. 30, 2012, and Jan. 7, 2013.

In the last home invasion, in Raleigh's historic Oakwood neighborhood, Jason Beyer was shot in the back as he wrestled with Marshall and his 17-year-old brother, Shabar Master Marshall, after they had ransacked his house and sexually assaulted his wife. The shooting left Beyer paralyzed.

Beyer, his wife and other victims of the crime spree described for jurors during the week-long trial the terror they felt and their certainty of impending death as two armed intruders took over their homes.

"Something like this happens to you, it never leaves your head. It;s just always there," Pat Lovick, who was held at gunpoint, robbed and left handcuffed to a bed by the Marshalls, said outside the courtroom.

"The trial opened up old wounds again, but now we can put them to rest," Lovick said. "It's been a long 15 months. I'm glad it came to an end finally. We can put it to rest, and a bad man is going away never to harm anyone again."

Jahaad Marshall testified Wednesday that he only drove the getaway car in the Oakwood home invasion and that he had nothing to do with the shooting, sexual assault or robbery. He said his brother and a man he knew only as "B.J." were responsible for the crime.

Wake County Assistant District Attorney Boz Zellinger called "B.J." a "figment of Jahaad Marshall's imagination" in his closing argument, and defense attorney Thomas never mentioned any portion of Marshall's two-hour testimony in his closing argument. He also asked Hight to take him off the case, saying he knew Marshall would lie on the witness stand.

Raleigh police arrested the brothers following a high-speed chase after the Beyer home invasion and found two guns on the side of a road that investigators say were used in the crime.

Those weapons, as well as items found in Jahaad Marshall's 1988 Cadillac and a hotel room where the brothers were staying, eventually connected them to two burglaries and a Dec. 30, 2012, home invasion at Lovick's home.

Shabar Marshall pleaded guilty three weeks ago to two of the home invasions. He was going to be sentenced Friday morning, but at the last minute, the sentencing was postponed until Monday morning.