Murder trial starts for man charged in fatal shooting during fight in Oakland Park

Attorneys were picking a jury Monday for the murder trial of one of two suspects charged in the Nov. 5, 2014, fatal shooting of Robert Earl Bolden outside the Riverwind Apartments in Columbus’ Oakland Park neighborhood.

The suspect going to trial this week is 25-year-old Gary Lee Jones Jr.. The case against codefendant Adrian Devon Patterson, 26, was severed, so he will be tried separately later.

During a pretrial hearing Monday, Jones’ attorney Michael Eddings tried to persuade Judge Frank Jordan Jr. to allow into evidence statements Patterson made to police, though Patterson so far does not plan to testify. Patterson’s attorney Stacey Jackson told Jordan he has advised Patterson not to waive his Fifth-Amendment right against self-incrimination to take the witness stand.

Prosecutor Don Kelly said that without Patterson’s testimony, any statements he made to police would be hearsay, as he would not be available to authenticate them, nor be subject to cross-examination. Jordan agreed.

During Jones’ preliminary hearing in Recorder’s Court on Jan. 20, 2015, police Sgt. Andrew Tyner said cell phone records showed Jones and Bolden communicated before meeting at Hawthorne Drive and Riverland Drive, where they got into a fight shortly after noon.

Jones fired three shots, with one hitting Bolden in the upper torso, Tyner testified. Bolden died that day, which happened to be his 44th birthday.

A witness afterward saw Jones jumping over fences to flee before he got into a Geo Metro with two others, Tyner said. A witness got the car’s tag number, he said.

Patterson, of Cusseta, Ga., was not arrested until this past Sept. 7, after a grand jury indicted him in the case on Aug. 29.

The indictment charges Jones and Patterson with malice or deliberate murder, felony murder for allegedly killing Bolden while committing the felony of aggravated assault and aggravated assault. Jones is charged also with using a gun to commit a crime.

This story was originally published November 27, 2017 at 1:16 PM with the headline "Murder trial starts for man charged in fatal shooting during fight in Oakland Park."