Circuit Judge Amy Brodersen has sentenced 27-year-old Christian Ketchup to life in prison for the 2023 killing of Tierra Binion, bringing closure to a case that gripped the Pensacola community for more than a year. A jury found Ketchup guilty in September of second-degree murder with a firearm after reviewing surveillance footage and testimony describing a violent and chaotic confrontation outside Mugs and Jugs.
The jury concluded that Ketchup punched Binion twice during a heated exchange in the parking lot, knocking her to the ground, and then shot her 10 times as she lay defenseless on the pavement. Throughout the case, Ketchup insisted he acted in self-defense and claimed he believed Binion was reaching for a weapon. Prosecutors argued there was no evidence she had a gun.
For Binion’s sister, Diamond Jordan, the sentence represents the justice she had long hoped for. She previously told the News Journal, “My opinion is life is justice. I expect nothing less.” Jordan has been outspoken since the night of the shooting, when she saw her sister’s blood flow into a storm drain. After the sentencing, she said, “Everyone has done a fantastic job wrapping this up.”
The events that led to the shooting unfolded on the night of August 23, 2023. Ketchup and his girlfriend, Rachel DeRise, arrived at the bar shortly before a fight erupted in the parking lot. Ketchup later testified that he tried to leave with his girlfriend. He claimed that as they attempted to walk away, Binion grabbed his shoulder, turned him around, and shouted at him “about her gun.”
Video footage contradicted key parts of his account. Surveillance from Mugs and Jugs captured a portion of the struggle between Binion and DeRise. The video showed Ketchup punching Binion in the face, knocking her to the ground in what appeared to be a semi-conscious state. DeRise then jumped on top of Binion and struck her repeatedly.
Ketchup pulled his girlfriend off and then took out a firearm. While Binion was still on the ground, he fired 10 rounds into her body. Prosecutors argued the act was deliberate and far from self-defense.
Chief Assistant State Attorney Bridgette Myers Jensen challenged Ketchup’s claims during the trial. She told the court, “This victim was punched in her face by a large man, she was jumped on by his girlfriend, but somehow the defendant wants this court to believe, like some superhero, Binion rises up and starts attacking his girlfriend and him again, and then she’s reaching for a gun that we know she doesn’t have.”
Jensen added, “This defendant essentially interjected himself into a fight that he had absolutely nothing to do with, or his girlfriend. And then he wants to be the big man on campus, and he brandishes that firearm several times throughout the video that we saw from the surveillance.”
With the sentencing complete, Binion’s family says they can finally begin to heal, knowing the system delivered the outcome they had fought for since the night Tierra’s life was taken.
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