FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. — A panel of jurors recommended the maximum 20-year prison sentence for a 19-year-old convicted in the deaths of two of his high school classmates -- 10 years for each of the teenagers killed.
After deliberating for nearly three days, a jury found Zachary Burkard guilty of two counts of manslaughter for shooting and killing 17-year-old Ersheen Elaiasher and 16-year-old Calvin Van Pelt with a ghost gun in a Springfield garage on April 25, 2021. The three South County High School students had engaged in an ongoing social media feud, and Elaiasher and Van Pelt allegedly showed up to fight Burkard in his friend's garage.
Elaiasher's father remains furious that his son's killer was found guilty of manslaughter instead of murder. "I don't know what kind of justice this is.... My son went over there for a fist fight. He didn't know it was a trap and they planned to kill him," Komi Elaiasher told reporters after the sentencing.
Burkard was found not guilty on two counts of firearm use in a felony.
The jury recommended ten years for each of the victims, but it will be up to Fairfax Circuit Court Judge David Bernhard to impose the sentence. The judge will decide whether Burkard should serve both sentences at the same time or one after the other, for a prison sentence as long as 20 years.
Burkard's public defender, Bryan Kennedy, told the judge he planned to file a motion to set aside the verdict.
Burkard had purchased two guns, one an untraceable so-called ghost handgun, which prosecutors say could be fired fully automatic.
“Anytime a young person’s life is taken, it’s a tragedy. But especially when it’s done with a gun that should have never existed,” Commonwealth's Attorney Steve Descano said. “The proliferation of untraceable guns in our communities continues to be unconscionable and I will keep fighting for stronger laws to address this crisis. My heart breaks for the victims and their families. While there are no winners in a case like this, I hope with the trial behind us, those most affected can begin a process of healing.”
Prosecutors were seeking first-degree murder in the case. Burkard - the only one armed that day - seized the opportunity "to take out someone he didn’t like," according to Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Joseph Martin. However, Burkard’s lawyer, senior public defender Bryan Kennedy, maintained that his client shot Elaiasher to protect another friend, who was allegedly on the verge of losing consciousness from being beaten. He told jurors that Elaiasher’s "One Way" crew had threatened Burkard and his friends, and jumped Burkard’s friend four-on-one in the garage. Burkard, testifying in his own defense, claimed he tried to shoot between Van Pelt and another man as they were moving toward him, but the medical examiner testified that Van Pelt had been shot twice in the back.
In audio from bodycam footage of first responders on the scene after the shooting, an officer can be heard saying that Burkard was "trying to help the person he shot." Kennedy argued that Burkard's actions, including trying to save his victim's life, were "not the actions of a murderer."
The Van Pelt family released the following statement after the verdict was announced:
“Although we disagree with the verdict, we thank the jury for their service," the family statement said. "There is some consolation in knowing that some degree of justice has been served. We continue to grieve for our son, Calvin who was a bright light in our family. We pray that no more families have to endure the agony of losing a child to gun violence.”
Burkard has a formal sentencing hearing scheduled for Dec. 15.
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