Russell High grad killed in robbery gone wrong set up by friends, Columbus cop testifies

The Russell County High School graduate shot to death in October was set up by a pair of men who said they were his friends, police testified in Recorder’s Court on Thursday.

Jaquon Daniels, 19, is charged with making false statements and appeared in court on Thursday. D’Eric Martin, 21, waived his right to appear in court, but has been charged with felony murder and felony tampering with evidence.

Daniels and Martin are believed to be involved with the death of Trevius Crowell, 21, who died after being shot in the stomach, police said. The shooting occurred Oct. 18, just minutes after noon, police testified. Officers arrived at the scene about 12:30 p.m. after getting calls about a single gunshot heard on the 1800 block of Amber Drive in Columbus.

But police said neither Martin or Daniels fired the shot that killed Crowell. A third individual on scene told police he was the shooter, Cpl. Robert Nicholas testified.

Several other people were also at the scene when officers arrived, including Daniels and Martin, Nicholas said. They identified themselves to police as Crowell’s friends.

Police declined to state the name of the alleged shooter in court due to death threats made against him.

The person identified as the shooter turned over his possessions, including a firearm, a phone and car keys. Nicholas testified that the shooter had been talking to Martin days prior over Facebook Messenger because Martin was interested in trading firearms.

Initially, Daniels told police that he and Martin coincidentally were on Amber Drive when the shooting happened. But four days after the shooting, Daniels came back to the police department and admitted that the incident was a setup and planned robbery, Nicholas said.

According to police, Daniels told officers he knew that Crowell planned on robbing the individual that would later shoot him.

Once Crowell approached the unnamed individual on Amber Drive, both he and the the shooter immediately brandished firearms. Crowell noticed Daniels and Martin sitting in a car near the scene and while he was distracted, the shooter took the opportunity to shoot him in the stomach, Nicholas said.

Ten days after Daniels came to the police department, Martin came in and gave the same statement as Daniels, Nicholas said.

Martin was ultimately charged after investigation determined that the gun he said he was interested in trading, a Springfield XD 40 caliber, never existed, Nicholas said.

“There was no XD. There was no XD in a car, on a person, in a bush, in a ditch, nowhere,” Nicholas said.

The only firearm that was ever recovered was a Smith and Wesson, according to police.

“The fact that Martin set up a transaction for a firearm that never existed indicated that he was a part of a planned robbery,” Nicholas said. “He was a part of a planned robbery for a transaction that was never going to occur. That’s the basis for his felony.”

Judge Julius Hunter bound the case over to Muscogee Superior Court.

This story was originally published November 21, 2019 at 5:51 PM.