Double Churches homicide suspect beaten by 15 inmates, now in Harris County Jail

One of the two suspects in custody for last week’s Double Churches Park homicide has been moved out of the Muscogee County Jail after being attacked twice by other inmates, his attorney told the Ledger-Enquirer on Friday.

Akeveius Powell, 21, turned himself into police on Monday and was charged with the June 15 slaying of Demonde Donya Dicks Jr., a 24-year-old man from Jonesboro, Ga. Jacquawn Clark, 19, was arrested and charged with murder two days after Dicks was killed. Derain Waller, 25, has been charged with murder but has not been captured.

Powell’s attorney, Susan Henderson, arranged Powell’s surrender on Monday and saw him again Tuesday morning at his Columbus Recorder’s Court hearing. She said he had been beaten by 15 inmates hours after being booked in jail.

“His face was swollen, he had a sore jaw and he was hurt,” Henderson said.

The attorney immediately requested that Sheriff John Darr have Powell moved out of the Columbus jail for his safety. Thursday morning, Powell was beaten again, Henderson said. Later in the day, Powell was transferred to the Harris Country Jail, an official with the Muscogee County Jail confirmed Friday morning.

Darr confirmed that Powell had been assaulted inside the jail and the Sheriff’s Office was investigating it.

“We moved him to an area that we thought he would not have any issues, but the reach of the people he’s involved with is pretty wide,” Darr said. “... The associations, the gangs — whatever you want to call it — is our biggest problem. Many times, we don’t know who is associated with who.”

Demonde Donya Dicks Sr., the father of the man Powell and Clark are charged with the killing, is also in the Muscogee County Jail. Demonde Donya Dicks Jr. and three co-defendants who included his father, Demonde Donya Dicks Sr., were set for a 9 a.m. guilty plea June 17 in Muscogee County Superior Court. That hearing in front of Judge Frank Jordan was postponed until August.

Jennifer Curry, who represents Clark, said she too fears that her client may be in jeopardy in the Muscogee County Jail. She said there have been death threats made against her client and family members on social media.

“I have had calls from the family that made me aware of threats made against them and my client,” Curry said. The attorney declined to say who was making the threats.

Clark has been moved into isolation inside the Muscogee County Jail, Curry said. Curry has also requested that Clark be moved out of the local jail for his safety.

Darr said his office took the threats against Clark seriously.

“We got some information about Clark and we moved him by himself,” Darr said. “From the reports we were getting, we thought he might be a target.”

Authorities said they were called to the 2300 Double Churches Road Park around 3 p.m. June 15 after a report of shots fired. When they arrived, they found Dicks Jr. near the basketball courts, dead from a gunshot wound to the head.

The motive may have been robbery, Maj. Gil Slouchick said at the time of Clark’s arrest.

Police Sgt. Wendy Holland said Clark returned to the scene about an hour after the shooting with his mother and gave a statement to detectives. He told them he drove Dicks and his cousin Waller to the park to smoke marijuana, and that Dicks was killed while they were there, Holland testified.

Holland said Clark was cooperative with detectives but video evidence revealed that he wasn’t being completely upfront about his involvement in the incident. She declined to elaborate.

The court hearing on pending drug charges for Dicks Jr. and Dicks Sr. do not appear to be related to the homicide, Slouchick said at the time of Clark’s arrest.

At the request of attorney Mike Garner, who represents Dicks Sr., Jordan delayed the hearing. Attorneys representing the father’s co-defendants also sought the delay. Jordan rescheduled the hearing for Aug. 2.

This story was originally published June 24, 2016 at 1:33 PM with the headline "Double Churches homicide suspect beaten by 15 inmates, now in Harris County Jail."