Judge's Final Words Influence Case of Teen Who Killed Classmate in Palm Beach County

The Legacy of a Judge and the Fate of a Former Prisoner

Even in death, a Florida judge continues to influence the life of Tronneal Mangum, who was once the youngest person in Palm Beach County sentenced to life in prison without parole. Judge Barry Cohen played a pivotal role in Mangum’s release from prison in 2022, which cut short his sentence for a murder he committed at age 14. The late judge’s words resurfaced in court this week as Mangum, now 42, sought to end his five-year probation early, despite objections from prosecutors and the victim’s father.

During a July 15 hearing at the courthouse in downtown West Palm Beach, Circuit Judge Cymonie Rowe shared a note from Cohen that he had left for Mangum before passing away. “If he were sitting in this chair, he would be granting it,” she said. However, Rowe did not fully approve Mangum’s request. Instead, she converted his probation to an administrative status, which does not require regular check-ins with a probation officer.

Ashraf Kamel, the father of the victim, watched the hearing via Zoom and expressed his dissatisfaction. “I'm not happy with it at all,” he said afterward. He strongly opposed the early termination of Mangum’s probation, believing that justice should be more firm.

A Tragic Crime and a Harsh Sentence

In 1997, Mangum brought a handgun to Conniston Middle School in West Palm Beach and fatally shot his 13-year-old classmate, John Pierre Kamel, during a dispute over the boy's wristwatch. Tried as an adult, a jury convicted Mangum of first-degree murder with a firearm the following year. Judge Roger Colton sentenced him to life without the possibility of parole in 1998. When reached on July 15, the retired judge described Mangum’s case as “sad, sad, sad.”

“I did not give him the death penalty,” Colton said. In 2016, following a series of U.S. Supreme Court decisions and subsequent changes to Florida law, Mangum was resentenced to 40 years in prison. He petitioned the court for a judicial sentence review in 2022, setting the stage for a resentencing hearing before Judge Cohen.

Rehabilitation and New Opportunities

At the resentencing hearing, Colton testified that he no longer believed Mangum posed the same threat he did as a teenager. He spoke about the letters he received from Mangum throughout his 25 years in prison, detailing his efforts to rehabilitate himself. Mangum earned the trust of prison officials, served as a law clerk, became certified as a paralegal, and spent more than a decade assisting other inmates with legal work.

Cohen, who retired from the bench in 2016 but remained active overseeing cases as needed, rejected the state's request to have Mangum serve the remaining 15 years of his 40-year prison sentence. In addition to the note Cohen left before his death, Rowe received a transcript of the judge’s 2022 resentencing remarks — submitted by Assistant Public Defender James Snowden — as evidence of Mangum’s rehabilitation.

“I’m not sure how the defendant was able to maintain such a good attitude through so many years of incarceration. It’s hard for me to even contemplate some of this stuff,” Cohen said. “But this guy is not acting. This is who the defendant is.”

Probation and Ongoing Debate

Snowden noted that Mangum has worked in construction since his release from prison, earning praise and a promotion from his employer. He also enrolled in a carpentry pre-apprenticeship program, and according to an email from his probation officer, has remained in full compliance with the terms of his probation.

Assistant State Attorney Jo Wilensky suggested that Mangum had done well on probation because it was supervised. She opposed any change to its terms, reminding Rowe that Cohen had already granted Mangum the statutory minimum of five years probation. Ending it early would be counter to both legislative intent and the wishes of Kamel's family, Wilensky said. She called on Kamel's father, watching remotely, to convey those wishes to the judge himself, but he never heard her call his name.

“I’m still in Zoom waiting for them,” he said over the phone, hours later. “I’m chuckling here, you know, like I said, I’m still waiting for the case to be called and see what’s happening."

His son, he said, was a smart and respectful boy. Born with one working leg, John swam competitively and refused to call himself disabled. After one win, he removed his prosthetic leg and played it like a guitar, making “everyone in the room laugh and cry at the same time," Ashraf Kamel said.

“I know he’s in a better place,” he added. “But justice should be firmer than that. He should have stayed in jail. But it is what it is.”

Mangum did not return a request for comment.