Man found guilty of manslaughter in fatal shooting at Super 8 Motel

A Columbus jury Friday found Christopher Kelvonte Womack guilty of voluntary manslaughter and aggravated assault in the Jan. 24, 2014, fatal shooting of 39-year-old Troy Saunders outside the 2935 Warm Springs Road Super 8 Motel.

Jurors also found Womack, 21, guilty using a firearm to commit a felony, but not guilty of murder and two counts of attempting to commit a felony by allegedly trying to rob Saunders and Joseph “Joey” Wilkes.

Attorneys afterward said Womack’s assault charge will merge into the manslaughter conviction, for which he faces a maximum 20 years in prison. By law he must serve five more years on the gun charge, so he could be incarcerated until he’s 46.

The jury deliberated about three hours before delivering its verdict at 3 p.m.

Womack was among four suspects charged in the death of Saunders, a Fort Mitchell man who that day gave 21-year-old Wilkes a ride from Phenix City to the motel, where Wilkes was to meet Niesha Jones, Womack’s sister. Besides Womack and Jones, police also arrested Trevon Brown and Mayson Deandrea Gibson, who at the time was Jones’ boyfriend.

Only Womack was on trial this week because Brown and Gibson will be tried separately, and Jones agreed to testify for the prosecution in exchange for pleading guilty to reduced charges.

She testified Gibson and Brown plotted to use counterfeit money to defraud Wilkes of marijuana after seeing photos of the drug along with guns and cash on Wilkes’ Facebook page. The two men had her contact Wilkes online to set up the meeting, she said.

Prosecutor George Lipscomb said Jones told Wilkes she had rented a motel room where they could smoke marijuana. Unknown to Wilkes, Jones’ co-conspirators, armed with pistols, would be waiting for him.

Brown, Gibson and Jones got into a pickup truck and picked Womack up on their way to the motel, where they parked the truck in a front parking lot while Jones walked through the motel to the rear to wait, Lipscomb said. When Saunders and Wilkes arrived, Jones met them in the rear parking lot, where she got into their car to smoke marijuana.

Womack, Gibson and Brown walked through the motel to the rear entrance and waited, Lipscomb said.

Though Jones claimed she was to pay Wilkes fake money for marijuana, Lipscomb told jurors the scheme actually was to rob Wilkes of his drugs and cash, but Jones’ alleged accomplices had not expected her to spend so much time in the car with the two Alabama men.

Womack later told police that Gibson was eager to rush the car and rob the men, but Womack demanded his sister be out of the vehicle first.

To assess the situation, Womack walked out, knocked on the car window and asked for a light. Before Jones handed him a cigarette lighter, Womack saw Wilkes reach into his jacket. When Womack went back into the motel, he told Brown and Gibson he suspected Wilkes was armed.

Next Gibson went to the car and asked to buy some marijuana, then pretended to notice Jones for the first time and in feigned outrage opened the rear door and pulled her out. As he did that, Jones spilled her purse, leaving her identification in Saunders’ car, authorities said.

Then Womack and Brown rushed the vehicle, guns drawn. Wilkes again reached toward his jacket before Womack warned him not to draw a weapon, after which Wilkes relented, Lipscomb said. But Saunders panicked, cranking the car to speed away as Womack and Brown opened fire.

One bullet punctured a tire on Saunders’ Buick Century; another hit the driver in the neck. Wilkes fired two shots into the air as Saunders, bleeding profusely, hit a curb that deflated a second tire, then got onto the road headed east, weaving and fishtailing, the prosecutor said.

Warm Springs Road becomes Gentian Boulevard just east of the motel. Saunders got about a quarter-mile away, near the Burger King at 3101 Gentian Blvd., when he bled to death. Wilkes steered the car off the road, got out, hid his pistol and went to the restaurant to call 911, Lipscomb said.

Jones and Gibson were arrested that same night, as police soon found her ID in Saunders’ car. Brown surrendered to police the following Jan. 28, and Womack was arrested in early February 2014.

Authorities since have lost track of Wilkes, for whom they are searching, said Lipscomb.

Womack was represented by Columbus attorney Michael Eddings, who told jurors his client acted in self-defense after Wilkes drew a gun and fired first.

This story was originally published May 6, 2016 at 3:14 PM with the headline "Man found guilty of manslaughter in fatal shooting at Super 8 Motel."