Witness says shooter yelled ‘Give me all you got!’ at Oakland Park drug-deal slaying

Robert Earl Bolden went to Columbus’ Oakland Park neighborhood to sell marijuana before he fatally was shot during an armed robbery, prosecutors told jurors Tuesday in the murder trial of Gary Lee Jones Jr.

The shooting between noon and 12:30 p.m. on Nov. 5, 2014, caught the attention of multiple witnesses who reported seeing men jumping fences as they ran through yards to get to a white Geo Prism that sped away.

One of those witnesses followed the car long enough to get a tag number, but his recollection was one digit off. For two weeks police tried to track down the vehicle, using the wrong license plate number and running it only through a Muscogee County database, said Senior Assistant District Attorney Don Kelly.

Then they got lucky: An officer accidentally got that wrong digit right by typing it in wrong, and got the combination for a Geo Prism from Marion County. That led to the car’s owner, Adrian Devon Patterson, and to a man who said he drove Jones and Patterson to Oakland Park that day, Kelly said.

Jones and Patterson are from Cusseta, Ga., and did not know their way around Columbus, so they asked an acquaintance to drive them, the prosecutor said.

The first witness

Bolden also caught a ride that day, from Frank Smith, the prosecution’s first witness. Smith said he was Bolden’s god-brother, and though he knew Bolden sometimes sold marijuana, he did not know that’s why the victim wanted to go to Oakland Park.

He said he was using the wireless service at Bolden’s home to take an online class when Bolden asked for a ride. They twice drove to spots where Bolden was to meet someone, and each time Bolden got a cellphone call before directing Smith somewhere else, he said. On the third try, Smith parked by the manager’s office at Riverwind Apartments, 1811 Riverland Drive.

They were waiting there when a man in a gray hooded sweatshirt or “hoodie” walked up to talk to Bolden, who got out of the car, Smith said. He paid little attention to their conversation until the stranger raised his voice, he testified.

“He said, ‘Give me all you got!’ It was loud and kind of aggressive,” he said.

The two men tussled, and Smith heard a gunshot. He was getting out of the car to duck behind it when he heard two more, he said.

He saw Bolden and the man in the hoodie run in different directions, and tried to trail the shooter as he ran through nearby yards on Ramsey Road, jumping fences. Then Smith saw a white car speed off.

He went back to look for Bolden, and found a group gathered where Bolden lay on Hawthorne Drive. “I heard him say my name, and then a gurgling sound,” he said.

Bolden died later at the hospital, on his 44th birthday. Dr. Steven Atkinson, a Georgia Bureau of Investigation medical examiner, testified a bullet penetrated Bolden’s right side and exited his left, crossing through the middle of his torso.

Defense attorney Michael Eddings hammered Smith for at first lying to police about what happened. Smith said he lied during his first interview because Bolden was shot while selling marijuana, and he thought his friend had survived. He told police the truth the next day, after learning Bolden had died, he said.

When asked to describe the gunman, Smith said: “He was fit,” or in good shape.

Audience gasps

A second witness said the man he saw jumping fences was not fit. He elicited gasps in the courtroom after reading a summary of what the police said he told them.

The Ramsey Road resident testified he saw only one man in a gray hoodie running through yards that day, and the man was heavyset. Jones is not, but Patterson is, and Eddings told jurors Patterson was the killer, and Jones was falsely accused.

“I believe that the state knows that he’s not the guy,” Eddings said of his client.

Assistant District Attorney Michelle De Los Santos asked the witness to read over his statement to police. Eddings objected, though the maneuver soon turned in his favor.

After reading the police summary, the witness said, “There is a lot of stuff added to this statement.” Jones’ supporters in the audience gasped. “Oooooh!” one exclaimed.

De Los Santos then took a different tack, asking about the witness’ health. He testified he’d spent 25 days in the hospital for cancer, and lost a lung. “I’m just weak,” he said.

Eddings on cross-examination asked about the man’s mental state: “Your brain works great, right?”

“Yeah, I hope so,” the witness replied. He said the man he saw in a gray hoodie was about 5-foot-10 and weighed around 200 pounds.

Another Ramsey Road resident said she saw two men jumping fences. One was tall and skinny, and the other “chunky,” she said. The heavier man had difficulty clearing fences, and had to wave frantically to get the white car to stop and wait on him to get in, she said.

The fourth witness Tuesday was John Crimmel, who got the fleeing car’s tag number.

He said he’d dropped off a prescription at a CVS pharmacy on South Lumpkin Road, and had to wait 20 minutes to get it, so he passed the time driving through Oakland Park. He was down by the Riverwind Apartments when he saw three men out in the street, he said.

He turned a corner and noticed one of his car doors wasn’t closed completely, so he stopped to shut it.

Then he heard three shots, and saw men running to a white car that started speeding away. He got a tag number following it to Howe Avenue, where he stopped tailing it because it was running stop signs, he said.

He later called 911 to report what he’d seen. Asked why he chose to get involved, he said his father had been a military police officer who taught him to take action when he saw something wrong. “My Dad was my hero,” he said.

The other driver

Also testifying Tuesday was Antonio Benefield, who said Jones and Patterson that day asked him to drive Patterson’s white car. He recalled meeting them on Farr Road, and said that as he drove, Jones talked on a cell phone and gave directions. He knew Jones and Patterson were going to buy marijuana, but thought it was not a large amount — only $30 to $40 worth, he said.

He said both Patterson and Jones left the car when he parked on Riverland Avenue, and he did not see where they went. He heard gunshots, and then Jones got back in the car, and they picked up Patterson as they left, he said.

He recalled noticing another car behind them on Howe Avenue. He said he drove to Fort Benning Road, where he got out of the car and went home.

He saw neither Jones nor Patterson with a gun that day, he said. He testified Patterson was wearing a dark gray hoodie, and Jones wore a blue Carolina Panthers knit cap.

The crime scene technician called to the shooting was Sgt. David Jury, who testified he found a .380-caliber semi-automatic pistol in the street. When he checked it, he found no bullet in the firing chamber, and only three in the clip.

That indicated the gun had not been fired, else it would have loaded another bullet into the chamber as it ejected a shell casing from the one just fired, he said. The gun was not jammed.

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

Patterson also is charged with malice or deliberate murder, felony murder for allegedly killing Bolden while committing the felony of aggravated assault, and aggravated assault. He is not on trial now because defense attorney Stacey Jackson got the case severed from Jones’ trial, so Patterson will be tried later.

Jones’ trial resumes Wednesday in Judge Frank Jordan Jr.’s Government Center courtroom.

This story was originally published November 28, 2017 at 4:43 PM with the headline "Witness says shooter yelled ‘Give me all you got!’ at Oakland Park drug-deal slaying."