Final suspects in beloved autistic man’s 2016 homicide sentenced in Columbus court
Six months after Deonn Carter’s killer was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for the autistic Columbus man’s 2016 fatal shooting, four others charged in the case finally were sentenced Tuesday in Muscogee Superior Court.
Carter’s mother said she had sympathy for only one of them: Travarus Daiquan Thomas.
“Travarus Thomas was the only one who looked like he felt remorse for my child,” Suzette Raglan told Judge Ron Mullins, referring to Thomas’ testifying against Tyquez Darnell Davis at the July trial.
Of the rest, she said, “I am not satisfied with them taking it lightly, because I can’t take it lightly…. I want them to be sentenced to the max.”
Thomas was one of two codefendants who testified against Davis, who July 19 was found guilty of felony murder and aggravated assault for shooting Carter in the leg while robbing the 31-year-old of his cell phone on Aug. 9, 2016. Carter died in the hospital 11 days later.
His shooting was part of a two-state crime spree involving stolen vehicles, home burglaries and a Phenix City shooting in which a man was wounded when he came home to find intruders breaking into his house. The initial indictment charged the defendants with a total of 20 counts, most involving Davis, with other suspects implicated in some offenses, but not others.
Murder charges against Davis’ codefendants were dropped as they chose to plead guilty to other counts while Davis went to trial. Two of them, Travarus Thomas and Quamaine Quinzell Thomas, who are not related, testified against Davis.
Prosecutor George Lipscomb noted their cooperation as they were sentenced Tuesday.
Here’s what Mullins gave each defendant:
- Travarus Thomas, 23, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and three counts of burglary. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Defense attorney Tim Flournoy said Thomas was jailed 22 months awaiting trial, and he will get credit for the time he already has served.
- Quamaine Thomas, 22, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault. He was sentenced to nine years in prison. Represented by William Kendrick, he initially was arrested Sept. 1, 2016, and also will get credit for the time he has spent in jail.
- Tauron Mykevious Stepney, 21, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault. Represented by Anthony Johnson, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison, and he too will get credit for time served.
- Dequoyae Devon Waldon, 25, pleaded guilty to burglary, attempting to commit a felony, and misdemeanor theft. Represented by Stacey Jackson, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison, with credit for the time he has spent in jail.
The amount of jail time that’s cut from each defendant’s sentence is calculated later by the Georgia Department of Corrections, using a formula that weighs each one’s criminal history and other factors, so that credit is not readily apparent at the sentencing.
Ragland said afterward that she had hoped this would put an end to her ordeal, but now she must continue to monitor the convicts’ appeals. Davis, who just turned 21 on Dec. 29, already has asked for a new trial.
According to trial testimony, Carter was living with his mother at the Parkside at Britt David apartments, 5443 Armour Road, where he was accosted by five men riding in a stolen Nissan Titan pickup when he went to get the mail around 9:30 p.m.
Davis got out of the truck and put a gun in Carter’s face, threatening to “kick his a--.” Though Davis’ codefendants denied it, Lipscomb said the men in the truck egged Davis on, taunting Carter.
Davis took Carter’s cell phone and shot Carter in the back of the left knee as Carter ran. Complications from that gunshot wound later led to Carter’s death.
Those who visited Carter in the hospital said he was bewildered by the assault. They said Carter was a jovial, loving man with many friends, including police and firefighters he met through his job at a Piggly Wiggly grocery store. He memorized their names, unit numbers and assignments.
Hostile to no one, he could not fathom why five strangers would attack him with no provocation.
“He never met a stranger, and he loved everybody,” a friend wrote in a letter read aloud in court Tuesday. “He couldn’t understand why someone would do this to him.”
This story was originally published January 14, 2020 at 2:15 PM.