Two homeless men plead guilty to killing Baker High grad at Tent City

William Andrew Edwards was not always a homeless man living in a tent down by the river.

During a memorial service after Edwards fatally was injured during a robbery July 26, 2015, friends recalled that he grew up on a ranch, graduated from what was then Columbus’ Baker High School, joined the Army and became an expert marksman.

A talented artist twice divorced, he took pride in having once supervised a crew of 10 as a contract painter.

Though he became homeless, his was among the more elaborate camps along the Chattahoochee River south of Bibb City: Besides a tent and shower, he had two generators, a refrigerator, a TV and DVD player and a stockpile of food and drinks.

He also had several oxygen tanks he needed to breathe because of ailments affecting his heart and lungs, and he had a protruding hernia, authorities said.

From his campsite he sold marijuana and Oxycontin, and that’s what his robbers wanted the night one bashed Edwards in the head with a pistol butt. The suspects took two bottles of the prescription drug and about a quarter-ounce of marijuana — the total worth now more than about $100, police said.

A healthier man might have survived the head wound, but that trauma combined with Edwards’ other afflictions ended his life, investigators said. Called to Edwards’ camp at 1:18 a.m. that hot July night, they found him bloody and dead, ants already crawling on the body.

Later that same day, at a green house nearby on Second Avenue — a place known to be a place where people used methamphetamine — authorities arrested two other homeless men in Edwards’ death: Daquon Tavez Chisholm, then 20, and Brian Xavier Harris, then 28.

Once charged with murder, both now have pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter.

Chisholm fancied himself a rapper who went by the name “Lil’ D,” and he was known to threaten other homeless people with a broken revolver that wouldn’t fire, said Assistant District Attorney Mark Anthony.

According to warrants for his arrest, Chisholm on July 23, 2015, beat a man over the head with the broken gun, then pointed it at the victim and said, “Give me the money or I shoot you.”

A woman was there, too, and Chisholm also pointed the gun barrel at her head, saying, “One of you is going to die if you don’t give me some money,” police said.

When police arrested Chisholm, they found his broken pistol along with a red book in which he’d written his rap lyrics, Anthony said.

Accompanied by a different accomplice, Chisholm had tried to rob Edwards before their fatal encounter, Anthony said.

Both for Edwards’ death and the earlier attempted robbery of a homeless man and woman, Chisholm initially was charged with malice or intentional murder, felony murder for killing Edwards while committing the felony of armed robbery, armed robbery, attempted armed robbery, two counts of aggravated assault and three of using a gun to commit a crime.

His malice murder charge was reduced to voluntary manslaughter, and all the other charges except attempted armed robbery were dismissed. He pleaded guilty March 20, and Judge William Rumer sentenced him to serve 20 years in prison and 10 on probation.

Harris initially was charged with malice murder, felony murder, armed robbery and using a firearm to commit a crime. Like Chisholm, he had faced life in prison on those counts.

On Monday, he pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and armed robbery. Rumer sentenced him to serve 15 years in prison on the manslaughter charge and 10 years’ probation for armed robbery. His other charges will be dropped.

Harris now is 31 years old. Chisholm is 23.

Harris’ attorney Jennifer Curry said her client has a mental illness, having been diagnosed as bipolar and schizophrenic, and suffers from anxiety and depression — conditions she noted for the court record before Harris’ sentencing.

Anthony said he hoped the public would not think prosecutors negotiated plea deals in the case because Edwards was homeless. They had other factors to consider, he said:

“We took into consideration all the facts and circumstances, and the strength of the evidence.”

This story was originally published April 2, 2018 at 3:37 PM with the headline "Two homeless men plead guilty to killing Baker High grad at Tent City."