BATON ROUGE — In the roughly three months since Jarvis Bowie was found not guilty of second-degree murder, life has been easygoing.
The 24-year-old is spending time with family and friends, especially with his 4-year-old daughter, and his 2-year-old son. Bowie is now married and the two are expecting another child — a girl, he told UWK.
“I been enjoying life with my kids. That’s the main thing,” Bowie said.
In January 2021, Bowie was arrested and accused of the murder of 36-year-old Clarence Augustus, who was found on Dec. 9, 2020 inside a vehicle parked outside his apartment complex near North Blvd., suffering from gunshot wounds.
Augustus was transported to a local hospital but died from his injuries.
Police say two shooters inside a red Honda Accord pulled alongside Augustus and opened fire through the passenger’s side window of the Honda before speeding off. Police later found that the vehicle was abandoned and burned in an empty lot in the 1800 block of Colorado Street.
Augustus’s mother and sister accused Bowie of being the shooter, telling police that Augustus had told them “Jarvis and them shot me” before he died. While the victim’s mother told police that Bowie drove a red Accord, it was later determined that the vehicle used in the deadly shooting had been stolen from a woman in Baton Rouge weeks prior.
Ultimately, Bowie was arrested roughly one month after the shooting and was held on a $350,000 bond.
Bowie was sent to the River Bend Detention Center in Lake Providence, where he waited for more than two years for his trial.
Despite the allegations from Augustus’s mother and sister, Bowie said he maintained his innocence the entire time he was locked up, explaining life at River Bend was not easy but, he held on to hope that the world would eventually hear his story and know of his innocence.
He says the facility was hot and that inmates weren’t given enough water, claiming that even during times when they could shower or drink from the faucet, water would often come out rust-colored or brown.
“It was real rough in there. All I had was God. That’s who helped me out there the whole two years,” Bowie explained. “While I was there, that’s who I was talking to. I was talking to him (God) and I was building a relationship with him to let him know that I’m innocent.
Bowie’s story and his journey of proving his innocence is the latest episode of the podcast Louisiana Unfiltered, where he cried tears of joy sharing his story.
His first trial ended in a mistrial in 2023, however, after the victim’s mother made a “highly prejudicial” comment about Bowie while on the stand, according to court transcripts.
Following that mistrial, Bowie’s bond was lowered to $150,000 which Bowie said was a blessing because his family and friends were able to cover the 10% required bond amount to get him out of River Bend and placed on house arrest in Baton Rouge.
The second trial began on Aug. 19 and after five days, it took a jury of seven women and five men 80 minutes of deliberation before finding Jarvis Bowie not guilty of murder.
“That should let the whole world know that they had their mindset already made for it to be not guilty,” Bowie said. “When they said ‘not guilty,’I had forgotten how to walk and I had to sit back down. That’s how much joy I had in me. I had to sit down for this and talk to Jesus Christ to let him know … to thank him.
If Bowie had been convicted, he would have been looking at a mandatory life sentence, so the 24-year-old says he’s especially happy to have the situation behind him.
Aside from the harsh conditions at River Bend, Bowie says he was able to make meaningful friendships at the facility, including with L’Vontre Humphrey who was arrested in Baton Rouge in 2021 for the alleged killing of 25-year-old Kelvin Robinson, Jr in a shootout.
Like Bowie, Humphrey was found not guilty of that crime in Jan. 2024.
“After he saw I was found not guilty, he (Humphrey) gave me a call,” Bowie said. “He gave me a FaceTime and said ‘Jordan, I want to tell you we shared tears together about our case(s), knowing we were both innocent and they found you not guilty. I’m proud of you, congratulations.”
Bowie said Humphrey has since relocated to New York City and Bowie said he’s now looking at moving to the Big Apple to reconnect with his old friend and start a fresh chapter in his life, explaining he wants to write a book now to tell his story and help other people facing adversity.
“I have a title for my book now … ‘All About Myself,” Jarvis Bowie said. “I want to help people with making decisions in life … how to make the right decisions in life, not the wrong ones.”
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