Jail inmate refuses to testify against suspect in drug dealer’s homicide

Seconds of silence ticked by in the courtroom as Robert Furr sat on the witness stand, hung his head, and said nothing.

Twice Assistant District Attorney Al Whitaker asked the Muscogee County Jail inmate whether he would testify as a witness in the murder case against Clayton Perry, who’s on trial in the Aug. 15, 2017, fatal shooting of James Francesconi. Twice Furr did not reply.

Finally Whitaker told Judge Gil McBride that Furr’s silence must mean he would not testify, and McBride ruled the witness thus was “unavailable.”

Absent Furr’s testimony, prosecutors Wednesday showed jurors video of an Oct. 11, 2017, interview Columbus police conducted with Furr after he reported having information on Francesconi’s homicide.

Furr’s recorded statements sometimes were difficult to comprehend, but Detective Robert Nicholas, who was present at the interview, clarified them later.

Nicholas testified Furr told police he was getting a tattoo at a private residence when several men drove up, among them Perry, whom Furr knew as “Poot” or “Poont,” and Tremaine Taylor, whom Furr called “Fat.”

Furr knew Francesconi by the street name “Cali.”

Furr told police that when he saw Poot and Fat that night, they had Mason jars containing marijuana, some of which was “loud,” or particularly potent. Furr said he pulled Poot aside to ask where they got the drug, and Poot replied that he and Fat had gone to rob Cali, but a struggle ensued during which Cali pulled two guns on them, so they shot him.

Other witnesses have testified Francesconi dealt marijuana, in small amounts, and always kept the drug in Mason jars in a black Nike backpack.

Francesconi fatally was shot in the abdomen around 9:30 p.m. at 228 Wickham Drive, where he was living with his friend D’Angelo Singleton. The 26-year-old died in the hospital two days later.

Singleton testified Tuesday that he and Francesconi had been hanging out under the carport on Wickham Drive when Singleton went inside to use the restroom. He was on his way back when he heard two gunshots and found Francesconi struggling to get into the house and clutching his stomach. “They shot me,” Francesconi told Singleton.

Singleton said Francesconi’s black backpack with the Mason jars of marijuana inside it was gone after the shooting.

Perry is the only suspect on trial in Francesconi’s death because the other suspect, Taylor, also has been killed – fatally shot Aug. 31, 2017, on Henson Avenue. He was 18.

Nicholas testified Wednesday that Perry was a witness to Taylor’s homicide. He said Perry told police the pair were walking up a driveway when a car came by and stopped, and someone inside it called out “Fat.” When Taylor turned back toward the car, he was shot, Perry told officers.

While being questioned about Taylor’s shooting, Perry told detectives he’d heard someone had promised a $15,000 bounty for Taylor’s death because of his involvement in Francesconi’s death.

Furr, the witness who refused to testify Wednesday, is jailed in a separate killing. He is charged in the Sept. 4, 2017, fatal shooting of 35-year-old Travis Porter, at Hannah Heights Apartments, 909 Farr Road. Porter at the time was facing perjury charges for allegedly lying on the witness stand during the 2016 murder trial of Reginald Jackson, who after Porter’s testimony was acquitted in the 2013 shooting of 23-year-old Dior Cheney, at Benning Drive and Head Street.

While cross-examining Nicholas, Perry’s defense attorney Michael Eddings accused police of failing to follow up on Furr’s tip, as detectives had no other witnesses to corroborate what Furr told them about Perry and Taylor.

Nicholas said finding the other witnesses was impossible because Furr didn’t provide enough information to identify them.

Perry was arrested Aug. 31, 2017, when police netted a dozen alleged gang members investigators said were involved in a burglary ring. Perry and the others were suspected of being in the Zohannon gang, a subset of the Gangster Disciples, authorities said.

Furr, then 19, was arrested Sept. 15, 2017, at Midtown Square Apartments, 1400 Boxwood Blvd., and charged in Porter’s death. He spoke to police about Francesconi’s homicide about a month later.

The prosecution rested its case against Perry on Wednesday, after which Eddings had Perry’s mother and sister testify he was home with them on Avalon Drive the night Francesconi was shot.

The mother, Debra Johnson Mabry, said she remembered the date because it was the same day she kicked her 19-year-old daughter out of the house for cursing, and the day another daughter, 12, was suspended from school for misbehavior. She said Perry had to be home to help the mother care for a bedridden grandmother who lives with them.

The sister, Derrica Anthony, testified she remembered Perry being home because he helped her sneak back into the house that night after Mabry kicked her out.

Perry, 18, is charged with malice or intentional murder, of felony murder for allegedly killing Francesconi while committing the felony of armed robbery, and of armed robbery, aggravated assault and using a firearm to commit a crime.

Attorneys are expected to make their closing arguments in the trial Thursday morning.