Restaurant employee heard scream through phone before Milgen Road shooting, police say
The suspect charged with fatally shooting a woman in the parking lot of a Columbus restaurant told police that the incident was an accident, according to testimony heard Thursday.
Family members of 31-year-old Davetta Mims packed Columbus Recorder’s Court as Jean Richelieu, 26, made his first appearance on a murder charge. Mims was found outside Mercy’s Jamaican Kitchen, 5753 Milgen Road, at 4:49 p.m. Tuesday with gunshot wounds and pronounced dead about 40 minutes later.
Detective Zach Cole testified that video surveillance footage from the restaurant showed Mims and Richelieu arriving at the restaurant in a vehicle and placing a food order from the parking lot. They were in a relationship, he said.
The Mercy’s employee who answered the phone when the couple called in their order heard a scream and said Mims sounded distressed moments before the shooting, Cole said. Witnesses at the scene told police they saw Richelieu step out of the driver’s side of the vehicle and go to the passenger’s side to render aid to Mims, who was unresponsive.
Richelieu was taken into police custody Tuesday evening and interviewed by officers about the incident.
When questioned, Richelieu told officers that the shooting was an accident, Cole said. He first told police Mims was in possession of the gun and shot herself twice. He then changed the statement, saying he and Mims were both holding the gun when it discharged as Richelieu tried to remove the magazine. Richelieu later told police that he was in possession of the weapon and accidentally shot Mims, according to Cole’s testimony.
Two guns were found in Richelieu’s vehicle during the course of the investigation, Cole said.
Stacey Jackson, Richelieu’s defense attorney, told the Ledger-Enquirer that based off of conversations with his client, he believes that the shooting was accidental.
“I think this in an unfortunate accident,” Jackson said. “The fact that he maintained that it was an accident is our whole defense. How a detective recounts a statement can be totally different from how that statement actually came out.”
Jackson said his client is a family man who risks losing his job while awaiting trial.
“Mr. Richeliu is a married man with a family, he works as a long distance truck driver and all that is at risk while he fights this case. I’m confident that the truth of the situation will come to light,” he said.
Muscogee County District Attorney Mark Jones said his office will actively pursue a conviction for Mims’ family.
“I plan to get this case indicted next week,” Jones told the L-E. “The family wants the public to know that this narrative of it being a huge accident is false.”
Members of Mims’ family told Jones she was a dancer, he said, and that she and Richeliu were known to have confrontations at her workplace.
“There is a pattern here of these guys who engage in violence against women,” Jones said. “I will no longer tolerate it and I want the public to know that if you continue, you will be tried and face life without the possibility of parole.”
The case has been bound over to Superior Court. Richelieu will remain in custody.
This story was originally published July 8, 2021 at 11:50 AM.
