The 32-year-old Tampa man, Jermaine Bass Jr., was sentenced to life in prison by a judge after the jury found him guilty of shooting his children, one of them fatally. The jury deliberated for several hours on the fourth day of trial before delivering a guilty verdict. Bass was convicted of first-degree murder, attempted murder, and two counts of aggravated child abuse for the death of his 5-year-old daughter, Jaylah Bass, and injuries to his 8-year-old son. He was given life in prison without the possibility of parole for his daughterโs murder and an extra 25 years for the attempted murder of his son.ย
The Tragic Shooting
The Hillsborough County Sheriffโs Deputies arrived at the Bassโ Tampa home on Aug. 29, 2022, to find Jermaine Bass holding his son in his lap covered in blood. Deputy Scott Rammey was among the responding officers and reported that Bass told him the wound on his son was from an accidental discharge. The responding deputies went upstairs to find his daughter, Jaylah Bass, lying still on the top bunk of her bed. She had multiple gunshot wounds to the head, and her brother also had a gunshot wound on the left side of his head, along with a wound on one of his pinky fingers.
Jermaine Bass told the responding officers that he was attempting to take out the magazine when the gun unexpectedly went off. Detectives interviewed Bassโ wife, the mother to their children after the incident. She claims she was in the bathroom at the time of the shootings, and after she heard three gunshots ring out, she ran outside for help. A neighbor testified during trial that they heard several shots fired, and a woman came out of the house almost 10 minutes later.ย
Bedtime Murder Trial
The trial began on Feb. 24, 2025, and lasted only five days from opening statements to sentencing. Jurors were shown horrific crime scene photos, including the bunk beds where Jayla lay in a pool of her blood. The prosecution argued that Jermaine Bass fired the gun intentionally with the premonition of killing his children. His defense argued it was a simple accident anyone could have made when unloading a magazine. Regardless, that does not detract from his neglecting his kidsโ safety.ย
On the final day of the trial, family members of the victims had the chance to speak to the court and the judge before sentencing occurred. The childrenโs mother, Shirley Bass, said, โThere’s never going to be any justice for this, but I pray that we can all move forward while our angel’s looking over us all.โ She filed for divorce shortly after the shooting took place and is rightfully devastated by her loss.ย
Thoughts on Jermaine Bassโ Sentence
The prosecution initially sought the death penalty for Jermaine Bass and his heinous crimes, but just one month before trial, they withdrew their petition. If they pursued the death penalty, Bass had a good chance at being put on death row. Before his sentencing, he addressed the court to claim the shootings were accidental and that he is a good father to his children. If that were the case, he would have been more careful with firearms around them.ย ย
It is disgraceful that Bass considers this an accident. His daughter suffered from multiple gunshot wounds to the head as she lay sleeping in her bunk bed. She was pronounced dead at the hospital, and his son clung to life after the so-called โaccident.โ According to police, they were both shot shortly after their mother put them to bed. There was a lot of visible damage from the bullets on the walls of their bedroom and bathroom. This was not an accidental discharge of a gun. This was murder.ย
