Fatal shooting victim and suspect were part of a prior ‘brawl,’ Columbus police testify
A Columbus man pleaded not guilty Friday in the April murder of Demetrius Daniels at a home on Reese Road.
Quintion Williams, 33, faces one charge of murder against Daniels and one charge of aggravated assault against Rodney Daniels in the drive-by shooting that Columbus police say stemmed from an altercation at a local nightclub the night prior, according to testimony heard in court.
CPD Detective Robert Nicholas testified that Rodney Daniels told police that he and Demetrius Daniels, 25, were sitting on the porch of the house on Reese Road on April 11 around 4:15 p.m. when a dark-colored sedan drove by and shot approximately 17 rounds at the home. When officers arrived, they found Demetrius Daniels had been shot multiple times. He was transported by private vehicle to St. Francis Hospital, where he died at 5:04 p.m.
Surveillance footage from the residences confirms that a black Nissan Altima approached the house firing shots from the passenger side before exiting the scene. Nicholas also stated that another witness, who was walking down Reese Road at the time of the shooting, told officers that he saw a dark-colored Nissan exiting the scene shortly after the shooting.
Rodney Daniels advised officers that the group had been in a fight the night before at Club Fetish, describing the scuffle as a “free-for-all brawl”, according to Nicholas. CPD obtained surveillance footage from the club, identifying Williams as one of the men in the altercation with Rodney and Demetrius Daniels.
Footage also shows Williams leaving the club in a black Nissan Altima with “unique rims” similar to the vehicle seen at the shooting, Nicholas said.
Nicholas also testified that police obtained search warrants for Williams’ Facebook page and cell phone. In a Facebook post about the events at the club, Nicholas stated that Williams said that a woman , with whom he has a familial-like relationship, was “struck with a bottle” in the club and that he has “no choice but to crash.”
Cell phone records also indicate that Williams may have been in proximity of the Reese Road home during the commission of the crime, according to Nicholas.
Stacey Jackson, William’s defense attorney, told the Ledger-Enquirer, that he plans to look over Williams’ Facebook to understand the context of the conversation.
“I haven’t seen the comment but you have to look at the total context of the conversation,” he said. “Sometimes the word ‘bad’ can mean good and ‘bad’ can mean bad so I have to look at the whole context of the conversation to see what was said and how it was said. I will deal with that at the proper time.”
Jackson also said his witness has yet to be identified by an eyewitness at the scene.
“One of the things, when you start incorporating technology in a case like this, that are often left out is just good old-fashioned eyewitness identification and you don’t have that in this case,” he said. “You don’t have anyone who has identified Mr. Williams in a six-person lineup. Obviously though technology, you have DNA and other things that exonerate people, but that technology also works in reverse.
“Just because a device was placed in that location does not mean that Quinton Williams was in that location doing certain things to something or someone.”
The judge bonded the case over to Superior Court and issued a no-contact order between Williams and the victim’s, Demetrius Daniels, family and Rodney Daniels. He is being held at the Muscogee County Jail awaiting trial.
