Jermaine L. Bass addressing the court during his sentencing hearing in Tampa, Florida on March 3, 2025 (Law&Crime).
A man from Florida, aged 32, will spend the rest of his life in prison for shooting his two young children, resulting in the death of the youngest child. Jermaine L. Bass was given a life sentence without the possibility of parole by Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Judge Samantha L. Ward after being convicted of first-degree murder for the killing of his 5-year-old daughter, Jaylah Bass.
On top of the life sentence, Bass was also handed an additional 25-year sentence for shooting his 8-year-old son, JJ Bass, who was struck in the head by a bullet but managed to survive against the odds.
The sentencing hearing
During the sentencing hearing, various members of the victims’ family spoke in front of the court, including Shirley Bass, the mother of Jaylah and JJ, who wore a shirt with her daughter’s image printed on it.
“Nothing compares to the joy of watching your children thrive,” Shirley Bass said. “Yet, in an instant, everything changes. Your husband and children are taken away from you, leaving you to question, how could he? How could he hurt them and put them in harm’s way, knowing he’s supposed to be their protector? What could drive him to such action.”
“It’s no longer why, but how,” she continued. “How could a person choose to harm their own child? A little girl who had just begun to experience the world.”
Bass, who did not testify in his own defense during the trial, also spoke during the hearing, claiming that his gun accidentally went off, hitting his daughter three times and his son once. All of the shots were to the victims’ heads, with authorities saying they were all “precise, deliberate shots.”
