Suspect in Columbus apartment homicide says he shot victim in self-defense
A “standoff” in a Patriot Place Apartments bathroom between two Columbus men left one dead and another wounded in both legs, according to police testimony in Recorder’s Court Friday.
Quincy Tyrek Wade, 26, was in a wheelchair during his first appearance to face charges of murder, home invasion and first degree aggravated assault. He’s accused of fatally shooting Maurice Vaughn Jackson, 26, on Sept. 7.
Around 2:34 a.m., Columbus police officers were called to an apartment at the 3700 Buena Vista Road complex. There they found Jackson, who had been shot multiple times, Det. Sherman Hayes said.
Officers found bloody footprints leading out of the apartment and to the complex’s parking lot, as well as an open sliding glass door and a broken bathroom door, Hayes testified.
During investigation, Hayes said officers found that seven people were in the apartment at the time of the incident: Wade, Jackson, Jackson’s girlfriend and her 7-year-old child, a man and woman who lived in the apartment, and a female friend.
According to witness accounts, Wade and Jackson’s girlfriend previously had a relationship. Wade was in “constant contact” with her and sent threatening text messages where he claimed to know where she was and who she was with. He also followed her and would show up to her work and other places she hung out, Hayes said.
The night of the shooting, Jackson and his girlfriend were staying with friends at their Patriot Place apartment when they heard loud knocking and yelling at the door, determined to be Wade, Hayes testified. As they discussed how to handle the situation, Wade came around to a sliding glass door and entered the apartment.
Jackson, his girlfriend, and the woman who lived at the apartment ran into the bathroom and closed the door. Wade kicked the door open and brandished a handgun, Hayes said.
The woman ran out of the bathroom past Wade and heard about five or six gunshots, but did not see who fired first, he said.
Jackson’s girlfriend told police she was in the bathtub with Jackson as Wade fired at the couple. Jackson fired back, striking Wade in both legs. Jackson was fatally wounded to the chest, lower arm, hip and back areas, Hayes said.
Jackson’s girlfriend was “scared for her life,” Hayes said and was struck in the ankle by a bullet. She was not able to tell officers who fired first, he testified.
Wade then fled the apartment and called a friend to pick him up. The two drove to a LaGrange hospital where the friend indicated that Wade had been involved in a Columbus shooting, leading hospital staff to call authorities for assistance, Hayes said. Columbus officers took him into custody following treatment.
Wade testified at the hearing Friday that he spoke to Jackson’s girlfriend on the phone earlier in the day and she invited him over to the apartment. When he arrived, no one answered the door so he went around to the side entrance, he said.
He said he did not break down the bathroom door, but entered the room and found the girlfriend sitting on the toilet and Jackson in the bathtub. Jackson fired upon Wade and he returned fire in self-defense, he said.
Both weapons recovered from the scene were .9-millimeter handguns, Hayes said. He did not know the exact number of casings or shots fired, but said bullet holes were found in the shower and an adjacent wall. Some bullets went through the bathroom and into other rooms and other apartments.
Attorney William Kendrick, representing Wade, said after the hearing that Wade and Jackson have known each other for many years and families on both sides are hurting.
“I just want the city to take note that at the end of the day, the suffering that comes from these types of scenarios, it falls back on the families,” he said. “We’ve got a long way to get to the bottom of what happened in this case but my job is to defend my client and Mr. Wade deserves that and we’re going to give that to him.”
Jackson’s death marked the 50th homicide for Columbus in 2021, surpassing records set in recent years. Kendrick, who grew up in the city, said carrying a weapon seems to be the norm for young people who feel the need to defend themselves. But he also urged residents to consider the current situation Columbus is in, like employment issues and a surging population.
“This is not the Columbus that I grew up in. Second largest city in the state of Georgia ... We’re coming into being a metropolitan area and as a result of that, just the sheer numbers, more things are going to happen,” he said. “... We’ve got to find a way to care about each other more when we get into disputes and not take the final steps and use these instruments that can cause death.”
No bond was granted in the case and Wade was ordered to have no contact with victims or their families. Judge Julius Hunter bound the case over to Superior Court.
