Man found guilty of murder 15+ years later

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — A Providence man who’s already behind bars has been convicted of a murder dating back more than a decade and a half.

Jayquan Garlington, 33, was found guilty at trial of killing 18-year-old Darren Reagans during a brawl outside a nightclub on July 4, 2007, according to the R.I. Attorney General’s Office.

Prosecutors said the two men were members of rival gangs. That night, Reagans was waiting in line to enter a club on Broad Street when Garlington and several others walked up and attacked him.

Reagans was stabbed in the heart and later died at Rhode Island Hospital.

Prosecutors claimed during the trial that Garlington recorded a rap song which contained a lyric interpreted as an admission to the killing.

He was indicted in 2017 on charges of murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

“In some cases, the wheels of justice turn quickly, and in others, circumstances dictate otherwise,” Attorney General Peter Neronha said. “I am grateful for the jury’s verdict in this case, which will no doubt result in decades of well-deserved prison time for this defendant.”

No word on Garlington’s sentencing date.