Autopsy shows man killed at Peachtree Mall was shot 10 times

Jurors weighing the case of an alleged Crips gang-related murder last year at Columbus’ Peachtree Mall heard testimony Monday from an expert on the culture of violence prosecutors say led to Anthony Meredith’s fatal shooting.

They also heard Meredith was shot 10 times in the torso, arms and legs.

The gang expert was Ray Ham, formerly a LaGrange, Ga., police investigator now with the state Department of Juvenile Justice. He said the Crips that began in Los Angeles in the 1960s have spread to other cities, incorporating local street gangs to build a nationwide network.

The Crips adopted the blue color of the LA Dodgers baseball team, and often use the white-on-blue wheelchair symbol that signifies handicapped access, because in gang parlance “Crip” can mean “cripple,” Ham said.

Because the Crips battle a rival gang called the Bloods, whose color is red, they will not use red in their communications, he said, testifying defendant Tekoa Young’s Facebook postings employing blue heart symbols instead of red ones indicate gang affiliation.

Prosecutor Pete Temesgen asked Ham about other gang characteristics, such as members’ use of the term “loco,” which in Spanish means “crazy.” Ham said gangs use “loc” for a member available anytime to “put in work,” to commit a crime or perform some other task.

Temesgen showed a Muscogee County Jail photo of Young’s co-defendant and brother, Xzavaien Jones, whose chest was tattooed with “LOC,” the last letter inked to replicate a wheelchair symbol. Jurors also saw photos of Jones flashing hand signals Ham said were Crips signs.

“I believe Xzavaien Jones not only exemplifies a Crip, he’s proud of it, given the tattoo on his chest,” Ham testified.

Young, Jones and Terell McFarland are on trial for Meredith’s March 26 homicide at the 3131 Manchester Expressway mall, where the three met outside before Jones gunned down Meredith near the entrance to the mall’s food court shortly before 7:30 p.m., police said.

Meredith, 24, died at the hospital about 30 minutes later.

Authorities say the three blamed Meredith for the Nov. 21, 2015, fatal shooting of Young’s boyfriend Christopher Twitty, the father of her child. Twitty also was in the Crips, investigators said.

Last week Meredith’s girlfriend Shanna Douglas testified she, Young, Meredith and Twitty all knew each other from Hardaway High School, where Young got to be her “best friend.” She said Meredith and Twitty had a dispute over Meredith’s fronting Twitty some marijuana, for which Twitty never paid.

Ham, who is on the board of directors of the Georgia Gang Investigators Association, said the three defendants’ orchestrating a vengeance killing when they found Meredith out in public would be consistent with gang culture.

Under cross-examination from Jones’ attorney Tim Flournoy, Ham said he could not estimate how many Crips are in Columbus.

Besides murder and aggravated assault, each defendant is charged with violating Georgia’s Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act. Flournoy asked Ham to cite the factors necessary for a conviction.

Ham said prosecutors must establish a defendant is affiliated with a gang, the defendant committed an act prohibited by law, and the defendant committed that crime to further the gang’s interests.

Ham acknowledged he could not testify that Jones’ gang affiliation was proof he killed Meredith. He repeated that when Nancy Miller, McFarland’s defense attorney, asked the same question about her client.

Though Ham in his earlier testimony noted blue hearts on Young’s Facebook posts, he admitted to her attorney, William Kendrick, that he could not say for certain she’s in the Crips.

Also testifying Monday was Dr. Sandra Thomas, an associate medical examiner for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, who said Meredith was shot 10 times, with about half of those bullets hitting him in the back.

This story was originally published April 24, 2017 at 5:06 PM with the headline "Autopsy shows man killed at Peachtree Mall was shot 10 times."