Syracuse, N.Y. — A Syracuse teen who had a 2021 murder conviction overturned pleaded guilty to the fatal shooting Tuesday.
Benjamin Kemp was convicted of fatally shooting 18-year-old Ezequiel Ruiz in early 2020 over $40 in marijuana. At the time of the shooting, Kemp was 15. He was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison during an emotional court appearance where he apologized to the family.
Kemp, now 19, had his conviction overturned earlier this year after an appellate court ruled that a conversation overheard between Kemp and his father in a police interview room should not have been used as evidence at trial.
On Tuesday, Kemp once again took responsibility for the murder by accepting Judge Mary Anne Doherty’s offer. She offered Kemp a sentence of seven and a half years to life in prison. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, first-degree attempted robbery and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon.
At his 2021 trial, prosecutors said that Kemp lured Ruiz to a South Salina Street parking lot for a $40 drug deal with the intent to rob the 18-year-old.
Kemp’s lawyers argued that Kemp didn’t intend to kill Ruiz and only pulled the trigger after he saw Ruiz reach for a realistic-looking B.B. gun. Kemp got spooked and shot Ruiz twice in the head, they argued.
Kemp was arrested a few days after the shooting. While being held in an interview room, Kemp apparently told his father he “was only supposed to rob the dude.”
That statement to his father was used by prosecutors as a confession. Later the appellate court found the statement should not have been presented to the jury.
Despite the conviction being overturned, the prosecution’s case did not appear to hinge on the confession.
Security video the night of the shooting shows Kemp getting into Ruiz’s vehicle, prosecutors said at trial.
Kemp had also texted Ruiz to set up the deal, prosecutors said. A number linked to those messages was identified as Kemp’s by his father. His father also identified…
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