‘They are not average criminals’: Jury deciding fate of 3 charged in mall slaying

A jury now must decide the fate of three alleged Crips gang associates charged in last year’s shockingly public slaying of Anthony Meredith outside Columbus’ Peachtree Mall.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys spent hours Wednesday making their closing arguments in the case against Xzavaien Trevon Jones, 19; his sister Tekoa Chantrell Young, 24; and Terell Raquez McFarland, 26.

Prosecutors allege that Jones, aided by Young and McFarland, shot Meredith 10 times outside the entrance to the mall’s food court around 7:30 p.m. on March 26, 2016, the Saturday before Easter. Meredith was pronounced dead at the hospital about 30 minutes later.

Someone ought to be able to stand out in a public place in Columbus, Ga., without getting gunned down, Assistant District Attorney Pete Temesgen told jurors before repeating what prosecutors believe to be the motive:

The three defendants 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.

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

Chief Assistant District Attorney Al Whitaker told jurors a cycle of violence ensued after Twitty took Meredith’s marijuana in August 2015: Later someone shot up Twitty’s home and television set, then on the following Oct. 29, Meredith was shot in the jaw and spent three weeks in the hospital, and then three days after Meredith was released, Twitty fatally was shot during a home invasion.

Temesgen reminded jurors of Douglas’ testimony that after Twitty’s death, Young told her, “I’m not the only one who’ll be crying.”

Because Twitty was in the Crips, his associates had to avenge his death, and they chose a public place “to send a message to all of us,” the prosecutor said, adding the message was, “They are not average criminals.”

He and Whitaker outlined the prosecution’s evidence:

• Mall security cameras recorded Young pacing back and forth in the mall parking lot as she tracked Meredith before Jones and McFarland arrived and the three together walked toward Meredith. Cameras also showed Meredith being gunned down and the three running away, with Jones and McFarland nearly causing a collision as they sped from the parking lot.
• A friend of Meredith’s, Devon Wynn, saw the shooting. He recognized Jones and had Jones’ Facebook page on his smartphone to show police when they arrived.
• Though Jones and McFarland denied they were at the mall, cell phone records showed their communications went through the nearest transmission tower at 2944 Warm Springs Road.
• Douglas, Meredith’s girlfriend, identified Young and Jones from the mall security video.

The defense

McFarland’s attorney Nancy Miller told jurors no eyewitness identified McFarland, and authorities implicated him in the homicide only because he admitted to police that he was associated with the Crips. Prosecutors were hoping the jury would convict her client through guilt by association, playing on “fear, speculation and suspicion,” she said.

Jones’ attorney Tim Flournoy told jurors: “Mistaken identity is what this case is all about.” Wynn, the witness who was Meredith’s friend, was so frightened by the gunfire that he didn’t have time to recognize Jones, and could not testify to what Jones was wearing or what kind of gun was used, Flournoy said: “He wasn’t paying attention to the shooter’s identity.”

Douglas, who was Meredith’s girlfriend, wasn’t at the mall, and “had an agenda” to punish whoever shot the father of her child, Flournoy said: “I submit to you that she is not seeking justice; she is seeking revenge.”

The people pictured on the mall video were too far away to recognize their faces, he said, telling jurors, “Look at that video and see if you can identify my client.”

Young’s attorney William Kendrick took a different tack: He acknowledged Young was present during the shooting, but denied she orchestrated it. She was charged as “a party to the crime,” meaning she did not shoot Meredith but helped commit the crime.

“’Helps’ is an act,” Kendrick said, and prosecutors had not proved Young helped kill Meredith, only that she was present. Mere presence is not evidence of guilt, he said, adding, “Let’s be clear here: Being at the mall is not a crime.”

Showing Facebook postings in which Young used blue heart emoticons instead of red does not prove she’s in the Crips, Kendrick said referring to a gang expert’s testimony that Crips never use the color red because of their rivalry with the Bloods gang, whose color is red.

“They’re demonizing this child,” Kendrick said of Young.

Each defendant is charged with malice or intentional murder, felony murder for allegedly killing Meredith while committing the felony of aggravated assault, aggravated assault and gang violence. As the accused triggerman, Jones is charged also with using a firearm to commit a felony.

This story was originally published April 26, 2017 at 4:13 PM with the headline "‘They are not average criminals’: Jury deciding fate of 3 charged in mall slaying."