Teen was at scene of Dunwoody Drive homicide but not identified as shooter, police say
Five days after he was identified as a suspected gang member in a series of thefts, Jaquavis Richardson pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a murder charge in the Dec. 27 shooting of Jaquan Jermaine “Droopy” Harris on Dunwoody Drive.
William Kendrick, defense attorney for Richardson, 17, asked Recorder’s Court Judge Julius Hunter to dismiss the charge after a Columbus police detective said the teen was at the 1919 Dunwoody Drive location but wasn’t identified as the shooter or driver of a vehicle. Hunter denied the request, ordered Richardson held without bond and bound the charge over to Muscogee Superior Court.
During Friday’s hearing, a gang investigator said Richardson, a member of the Zohannon street gang and Gangster Disciples, and three others were involved in a series of car thefts and entering autos along Abbott Avenue and Lloyd Road. A Glock 21, a .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol, was taken from the sheriff’s deputy personal vehicle on Dec. 26 in the 5000 block of Abbott Avenue. It was used in the fatal shooting of Harris the next day.
The same four individuals showed up around 2:30 a.m. with two each riding in a stolen Chevy Traverse and a second vehicle. Police detective Zachary Cole said Harris and three others were at the Dunwoody Drive location before shots were fired from the vehicles. Harris, 19, was taken to Piedmont Columbus Regional midtown campus where he was pronounced dead.
Cole said Richardson was in a vehicle before shots were fired from it but witnesses didn’t identify him as the shooter or driver. “We are working on a theory right now,” he told the court.
A codefendant was wearing an ankle monitor on the night of the vehicle thefts. The stolen Glock pistol hasn’t been recovered as police seek a second suspect in the shooting. Davontay Marquis Wiskow, 18, has been charged with murder in the case.
In his request to dismiss the murder charge, Kendrick said his client wasn’t identified as aiding or abetting in the case.
Matt Brown, an assistant district attorney, disagreed. He said the answer is going to be an instruction for a jury at trial.
Hunter said there is probable cause in the case at a minimum. “This court can’t try this case,” he said. “The jury will have to determine what the facts are in this case. “
After the hearing, Kendrick noted that the mere presence of a person doesn’t rise to aiding and abetting. “You can be held accountable for murder if you are aiding or abetting,” he said. “You are handing someone a gun or helping, you can be charged as well. Those are two ways you can be held accountable. We respect the court’s ruling.”
This story was originally published January 16, 2019 at 1:22 PM.