Teen charged in Warren Williams homicide may use ‘stand your ground’ defense, attorney says

The defense attorney for a teenager accused of fatally shooting a 50-year-old man at Warren Williams Apartment Homes in January is considering a self-defense argument under Georgia’s “stand your ground” law.

William Kendrick is representing Derick Garnell Jones, 17, who is charged with murder in the Jan. 17 shooting death of Dorian Gibson outside an apartment home.

During a Recorder’s Court hearing Wednesday, Sgt. Dexter Wysinger with the Columbus Police Department Homicide Unit said Gibson was allegedly trying to break up a fight between a woman and a group of people, including Jones, when Gibson was shot, once in the abdomen and once in the chest. He was pronounced dead at 6:46 p.m. at Piedmont Columbus Regional Hospital.

Wysinger told the court that Gibson’s chest injury had a “downward trajectory,” from front to back, which indicates Gibson was on top of or above the shooter.

Due to that, Kendrick said the defense in this case “may very well be” one of self defense.

“It does seem and it came out that the victim in the case, Mr. Gibson, was much larger than my client and it seems from the trajectory of the bullets that possibly we’ve got as situation where maybe my client was under him or being attacked, being punched, something of that nature,” he said. “If that can be established that he was the one that was wielding the firearm or even out there....we’ve got a long way to go.

“But it does seem like at least from the trajectory of the bullet, and from the report that we have, that Mr. Gibson was engaged in some type of physical combat with someone around the time he received the wounds.”

Kendrick said that Georgia’s “stand your ground” law allows people to avoid serious bodily injury.

“It gives you means that you can protect yourself. So no one, whether it’s a fist or any other type of weapon, I’m sorry, no one has a right to put their hands on you and hurt you. And if they’re doing that, then you have a right to defend yourself by the means that are allowed through the Georgia code.”

Two versions of events

According to Wysinger, there are conflicting accounts of which side instigated the fight, but he said it took place right outside of the woman’s apartment.

The other group of individuals came from an apartment located at least 100 yards away from the apartment, Wysinger said. The group included Jones and at least four other people, one of which is allegedly Jones’ cousin.

“Witnesses indicated that the group came from the 107 building and came to (the woman’s) apartment three different times throughout the day to try and fight with her,” Wysinger said. “They stated (the woman) was initially sitting on her back porch but in an attempt to avoid the fight and conflict, she moved to her front porch and started sitting on her front porch.”

The group followed her to her front porch and a fight broke out, Wysinger said of witness accounts. Gibson, an alleged longtime friend of the woman’s family, was visiting his niece in the area and stepped in to intervene.

“Witnesses stated Gibson pulled several people away from (the woman) and that he punched Derick Jones in the face, knocking him to the ground,” Wysinger said. “Witnesses reported after Jones was punched he pulled out a handgun and shot Gibson several times.”

Wysinger also said one of the witnesses indicated that Jones left the area during the fight, retrieved a gun, and came back to shoot Gibson.

Kendrick said after the hearing that the trajectory of the bullets does not seem to support that version of events.

“The shot probably took place right after the punch, that’s what the trajectory information seems to support,” he said.

The apartment where the group had been that day was searched but no firearm was recovered.

Multiple witnesses picked Jones out of a photo lineup as the person responsible for shooting Gibson, Wysinger said. A warrant was issued for his arrest and Jones turned himself in February 20.

The case was bound over to Superior Court, where a decision about bond will be made.

Kendrick said the time frame currently in Columbus for homicides to go to trial is around two years.

This homicide is among 10 that have taken place in Columbus so far this year.

This story was originally published February 26, 2020 at 12:47 PM.