David Keegan Riotto Haigh has gone from Jack’d to Lock’d…up.
A jury in a New York courtroom just convicted the 43-year-old former model of first-degree manslaughter in the death of 41-year-old James Johnson, Jr.
The two met on the gay dating app Jack’d in April 2017. After a night of drinking and drugging, a fight broke out which left Johnson with multiple stab wounds and a knife in his chest.
Haigh claims to have acted only in self-defense. He says Johnson tried to inject him with a hypodermic needle, prompting him to stab him 17 times, including one fatal blow to the heart. He remained at the scene and cooperated police following the attack.
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“I took a life, a horrible fact that I’ll have to live with for the rest of my life,” Haigh said in court.
“It was never my intention to take his life. My only intent was not to let him take mine. I simply had no other choice. I will live with this guilt for the rest of this life.”
Haigh’s tale of self-defense wasn’t enough to convince the jury, however. After being found guilty, he now faces up to 12 years in prison.
His lawyers say they intend to appeal the verdict.
Related: Jack’d to Grindr: Admit it! You promote racism and it needs to stop!
HereIAm
Another sad tale on how anonymous online hookups destroy lives and turn normal folks into sex vampires. Hard drug addiction is real and it is not a disease. Using hard drug is a personal choice and if the users refuse to quit, the government need to lock them up for mandatory treatment.
fur_hunter
Check out the book ‘A Male Couple’s Guide To Living Together’. Incredible book with lots of very good information.
calpoidog
I’ve got plenty of tales of anonymous online hook ups that enhanced mine and I’m still a successful, tax paying member of society. Bitter much?
Stratocumulus25
WOW! that’s one large brush of sanctimoniousness with a dash of fascism you’ve got there, HereIAm.
pharaon.em.joe
Judgemental piece of shit.
DrEvel1
Bravo, calpoidog! I second your comment completely. With a few simple precautions, anonymous online can be very rewarding for everyone. Sex is good for you. Too bad I’m now sexually obsolete due to age and weight. But I remember it fondly.
sfmike64
Well. Aren’t you charming? Bet you get a lot of dates with that attitude.
Most people who use drugs never harm anyone but themselves. It’s none of your business if I use drugs or not.
And thanks, but I’ll pass on fascist bullshit like “mandatory treatment.” That’s never gone wrong in this country before, has it? I was a crystal addict for 2+ years. Getting clean was the most difficult thing I ever did (more than coming out), so spare me your sanctimonious bullshit.
Ttrotski
And your degree in Psychology is from where? Sociology? Anthropology? Medical Doctorate? The truth is that most of what we call addiction is not addiction and you are correct, Meth is rarely an addictive substance because debilitating withdrawal doesn’t affect the user (being worn out after being up for days is not withdrawal). Again, you are correct that it isn’t a disease, it is a failure of society to recognise the animal nature of mankind by criminalizing natural behaviour as a way of further oppressing the oppressed. All warm blooded creatures will seek solace in an altered state when distressed, human beings in general will increase their sexual activity when distressed, and as gay men we carry the risk gene and are predisposed to risky behaviours like drug usage and more casual sexual encounters, but also risk behaviours like creative pursuits, travel, and can you name anything riskier than being a woman’s hairdresser? Stop judging, and you might just understand.
Juanjo
Have any actual verifiable evidence to support your conclusions about online hook-ups? I doubt it. Given that online hook-ups are the most common form of hook-up now used, I wonder how many of them pass without an incident like this and how many do? You remind me of those sanctimonious old queens of my youth who always asserted they would never consider cruising a tearoom or go to the baths because it was dangerous. On Saturdays, they were the ones in the bathroom at the bus station occupying the middle stall so they could monopolize both gloryholes.
HereIAm
sfmike, I applaud your effort to get sober and I apologize if I sounded like I was attacking the addicts. I just have huge problems with addicts who refuse to quit. All my life, I was surrounded by hard drug addicts, my parents, my siblings, my ex’es. You have no idea what it is like to be raised by parents who are hardcore addicts. Being the only child in my family that doesn’t do drugs, I have witnessed and experienced first hand the physical and psychological damage addicts can do to people who love them. I vow never to have another addict in my life.
HereIAm
TTrotski, “Meth is rarely an addictive substance”? Is that your expert opinion on meth addiction? sfmike reveals in his comment that quitting meth is most difficult thing he had to do, more so than his coming out. And then when you start to blame the drug addiction on the society (it’s all their faults), you are just being ridiculous. However, you really lost the debate on addiction when you attribute it to the gay genes. There are million of gays in this world and they all face the same challenges you and I do but how do you explain that only a very small number of gays do hard drugs? Your attempt to link hard drug use to creativity and risk taking is absurd and laughable but it is your attempt to normalize and justify gays’ hard drug use that really does the gay community a disservice. How many gay lives have to be destroyed by hard drugs before you can admit that you are wrong, so wrong about the hard drug use?
batesmotel
It’s true there are dangers with online apps, but if someone is highly aware and in tune, then they can pick up on if the person they’re hanging with. These guys were also involved with drinking and drugs. It’s more likely to go downhill with that over two busy intelligent professionals.
Smith David
HereIAm thinking I had all the answers. I realize now that I do not. You’re the clear genius. Excellent reply. The same logic should apply to the obesity crisis in America. Don’t you think?
HereIAm
Obesity, unlike hard drug addiction, doesn’t turn a normal guy into a heartless thief, a shameless liar, a cruel heart breaker that hurts everyone around him, and a sex crazed maniac.
strap2900
I don’t know about that, I had a fat dude almost kill me over the last piece of pizza.
fur_hunter
OK…..You made me laugh!
fur_hunter
There is a GREAt book out there that has wonderful information in it. ‘A Male Couple’s Guide To Living Together’. Two of the NO-NOs are drugs and alcohol. Connect yourself with those who use either or both and you are in deep $H!T.
Kangol
Many people drink alcohol responsibly and have loving, successful relationships. The same is true for marijuana, though probably not for other recreational drugs. Do you mean “those who abuse either or both”?
DrEvel1
Perhaps true for some; absolutely untrue for lots of people. What’s important is compatibility and mutual limit-setting. And in case you’re wondering, that is NOT the same thing as co-dependence; it’s a matter of mutual respect. Alcohol and drugs are just tools for personal expression. As Ani DiFranco observed, “Any tool is a weapon if you hold it right” and can be misused, but most tools do what they ought to when you know how to use them. knowledge, communication, and respect are the key dimensions here. Prohibition, on the other hand, is pretty generally a prescription for failure.
JerseyMike
12 fcuking years!!?? Had been the other way around it would have been 25 to life!!! Privilege has its advantages.
HereIAm
The black victim was not completely innocent. According to some local reports, he had at least one or two recent sexual assaults. The situation was similar. After hours and hours of crystal meth fueled raunchy indulgence, he refused to let his tricks leave but instead forced himself on them against their will. I will not say that he deserved what befell on him but it is obvious that the hard drug destroyed both men’s life.
Juanjo
It is entirely predictable that HereIAmABiotch would blame the victim and makes unproven assertions of what an evil person he was. The assailant claimed self-defense and the jury obviously did not accept that argument as he was convicted of murder. So show us the verified evidence, say a court transcript, which shows there was actual evidence that the victim acted in the fashion you allege here. Unless you have that, the prior acts of the victim [assuming your account is accurate] would be irrelevant and not allowed into evidence in this case. The only demonstrably accurate thing you said was that both of these men were drug abusers and the drugs destroyed both men.
IanHunter
Model? No.
blueyedirish
Twelve Years? The killer gets Twelve Years? WTF? Would it be longer if the black guy stabbed the white guy 17 times? Probably! There are men in prison for 3 times that for selling weed. This killer should face life in prison for taking this man’s life. I don’t care which drugs, how much drugs, he took a knife and plunged it into another man’s body until he was dead! This is such a gruesome murder, I have to revisit my belief against the death penalty. The revenge of twelve years in prison for this ex-model is his loosey goosey rectum will be flapping in the wind like a….., oh give me a good word to fit this.
nitejonboy
I don’t know why they insist on mixing sex with drugs…isn’t sex by itself enjoyable enough ? The drugs cause paranoia which leads to violence. For all we know the victim did try to attack the model, but because they were both on drugs we’ll never know for sure. Such a shame.