Why did Javaris Crittenton go to prison? Looking at former Lakers’ guard homicide case

Javaris Crittenton is a former NBA player who is currently serving a prison sentence. Crittenton is best known for the locker room gun incident with Gilbert Arenas. The incident affected the careers of both players, and they were out of the league shortly after.

While Arenas has managed to somewhat rehabilitate his image, his former teammate kept involving himself in more trouble. In 2011, less than two years after the gun incident, the former NBA player was charged with murder.

Crittenton had a lot of potential, but his career completely fell apart after this incident. He was sentenced to 23 years in prison and is serving his sentence.

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Javaris Crittenton played for three NBA teams before his arrest

Javaris Crittenton attended Georgia Tech, where he established himself as one of the best players in his class. The 6-foot-5 guard averaged 14.4 points and 5.8 assists per game during his college career, improving his draft stock.

The guard was selected with the 19th overall pick in the 2007 NBA draft by the LA Lakers. He spent a few months in the City of Angels before he was shipped to the Memphis Grizzlies, who then sent him to the Washington Wizards.

Crittenton was a standout player at Georgia Tech (Image via Getty Images)

Crittenton's tenure with the Wizards was marked with a gun incident. He pulled his gun on Gilbert Arenas, who's also brought a few guns of his own to the locker room. Javaris pleaded guilty and was given a year of probation.

He was also suspended by the league and the Wizards released him a few days later. This was the end of his NBA career, but Crittenton made the situation much worse later on.

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In August 2011, Javaris Crittenton was charged with the murder of a 22-year-old woman. The former NBA player wanted to shoot someone else, but the woman, who was also a mother of four, was in the wrong place and succumbed to wounds shortly after.

Crittenton had a lot of potential, but his career quickly derailed (Image via Getty Images)

Crittenton was indicted on 12 counts in connection with the woman's death, including charges of possession of a firearm, murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and more. He was released on a $230,00 bond, but couldn't stay out of trouble.

Less than three years after the fatal shooting, Javaris Crittenton was arrested for his connection to the drug trade. The former NBA player and 12 others were accused of selling large quantities of cocaine and marijuana.

While he was with the Lakers, Crittenton was also linked to the Crips, a street gang. Prosecutors in the case said that he had a gang tattoo on his body, but Crittenton denied being a member, saying that he only hung out with several members of the gang.

Javaris Crittenton was sentenced to 23 years in prison (Image via Getty Images)

In 2015, Crittenton pleaded guilty to several charges, including voluntary manslaughter with a weapon. He was sentenced to 23 years in prison and 17 years of probation.

"I apologize from the depths of my heart," Crittenton said regarding the incident. "I'm not a murderer. I made a mistake, one that I wish I could take back."

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The former Lakers guard admitted that he was heartbroken when he learned that he had killed a mother of four. She was not his target and he just wanted to scare someone. Jarvis Crittenton also apologized to the victim's family and was remorseful.

He's serving his sentence at Calhoun State Prison in Morgan, Georgia.