Judge to decide on plea deal in Columbus teen’s fatal shooting in front of Macon Road motorists
Attorneys have reached a plea deal in the case of a Columbus teen whose former boyfriend is accused of gunning her down in front of multiple witnesses on Macon Road.
But the victim’s mother has objected to letting Markel Andrew Ervin plead guilty in exchange for a sentence of life with parole in 18-year-old Destinee Virgin’s fatal shooting on Sept. 22, 2018.
The case was set to go to trial Monday in Muscogee Superior Court, where prosecutors and defense attorney Michael Eddings came to the agreement while discussing whether the trial should be delayed, as Eddings had sought a continuance.
The victim’s mother, Mechelle Virgin, was in court Monday, but she was unaware Ervin had accepted the offer until the attorneys announced it, she said.
“It was my first time hearing about the plea deal,” she said Wednesday, adding District Attorney Mark Jones did not consult her on the agreement. “Mark Jones never ran it by me.”
She would like Ervin to serve a sentence of life without parole, she said: “I wanted him to suffer in jail, and think about Destinee.”
Under the plea agreement, Ervin would have to serve 30 years before he could be released, were the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles to allow that.
The board could make him serve more time, Eddings said Wednesday: “It’s up to the parole board. There’s no guarantee.”
Born in December 2000, Ervin is 20 years old. He was 17 when he was charged with murder.
Mechelle Virgin said that because Ervin is so young, she wanted him to serve an extended prison sentence, so he would not have a chance to marry or have children, just as her daughter will never have that chance.
Thirty years is not enough, she said: “That would make him 50 when he’s eligible to get out.”
Both Jones and Eddings said the plea deal would ensure Ervin went to prison, but taking the case to trial would not.
“It’s taking a chance, taking him to trial,” said Eddings.
“Anything could happen in a trial,” said Jones. He noted two murder trials have been held here since January, and one resulted in an acquittal, and the other in a mistrial, because of a hung jury. “It only takes one juror to be a holdout,” he said. “I just can’t risk that, not with these recent verdicts.”
Judge William Rumer has set a sentencing hearing for 9 a.m. Thursday, when Mechelle Virgin plans to voice her objections to the plea deal.
Whether the court accepts it is up to the judge: “He’s going to make the ultimate decision,” Eddings said.
The shooting
Police said horrified motorists watched as Destinee Virgin got out of her 2004 Nissan Altima and ran west on Macon Road, screaming for help and trying to get into other cars, with Ervin chasing her.
It was around 7 p.m., and traffic was stopped at a red light, at Rigdon Road, where witnesses saw Ervin run her down and shoot her repeatedly with a 9-millimeter pistol, investigators said.
Ervin walked back to the Altima and drove to Harris County, where he ditched the car and fled into the woods, prompting a search that led to his arrest the next morning, authorities said.
He had been arrested before, accused of kidnapping Virgin on April 25, 2018, and holding her against her will as he moved her from place to place, after her mother reported her missing, detectives said. She had injuries from being hit in the face, they said.
In that case, Ervin was arrested on warrants May 15, and later released on bond.
Mechelle Virgin believes her daughter still would be alive, had Ervin not been released after that: “They have failed my child so miserably, the city of Columbus,” she said.
The charges from that earlier case still are pending. Besides murder and kidnapping, Ervin has charges of aggravated assault, hijacking a motor vehicle, first-degree burglary, and using a gun to commit a crime.
Police said that when officers were called to the crossing where Virgin was shot, they found witnesses waiting to say what they saw. One was a woman who had attended Carver High School with the pair, and she directed police to Ervin’s Facebook page, where he used the nickname “Cricket.”
But Eddings said other witnesses can’t swear Ervin is the gunman they saw that day.
“Most of the witnesses don’t recognize him,” the attorney said, adding a man sitting on a nearby bench came face to face with Ervin, but could not identify the suspect. “He was in a state of shock,” Eddings said of the witness.
Jones said police got some security camera footage of the incident, but it’s not decisive.
“The video isn’t as conclusive as it was made out to me to be,” the district attorney said. Ervin was not on camera when the shooting occurred, he said.
The victim’s mother disputed that, saying she repeatedly has watched the video, and finds it convincing: “Everything was crystal clear,” she said.
Jones said he believes the plea bargain is appropriate, under the circumstances: “It’s about as good a deal as we’re going to get.”
Eddings agreed, saying an offer of life without parole would not be worth considering, for a defendant: “It’s not something you would offer, because you might as well go to trial,” he said, adding that so far, his client wants to take the deal.
“As of today, he’s indicated he will accept the offer,” Eddings said Wednesday.
Said Jones: “If he doesn’t accept it, then I guess we’re going to trial.”
This story was originally published May 26, 2021 at 5:57 PM.