Columbus boy caught in crossfire of drug shooting, cops say. Suspect says he’s the victim
A drug-related shooting that sparked a running gun battle between two cars led to the death of a 12-year-old Columbus boy this past August, a detective testified Tuesday.
Cortez Richardson, 12, was hit by a stray bullet as the vehicle his mother was driving passed the two cars engaged in the gunfight, Detective Robert Nicholas said during a hearing for David Harrison Jr.
Harrison is charged with murder and violating the Georgia Controlled Substances Act, allegedly for selling methamphetamine.
Nicholas said police first were called around 11:50 p.m. to Luna Drive and Armenda Drive, where they found Cortez’ mother Tiffany Richardson had pulled off the road to care for her wounded son.
That soon was followed by reports of a man wounded nearby on Chalbena Avenue, where the victim nearly lost his leg from being shot through the knee, the officer said.
The wounded man told police he and Harrison had been selling drugs there when a car passed twice before stopping a third time and opening fire, leaving 9-millimeter shell casings at the curb, Nicholas said. Plastic bags containing marijuana, Ecstasy and methamphetamine were found in the yard, driveway and inside the residence, he said.
Harrison left in a rented Chevrolet Equinox to pursue the other car, Nicholas said, adding the chase was recorded on traffic cameras. The video did not capture muzzle flashes from gunfire due to glare from streetlights.
He said police searching the roadside along Floyd Road’s northbound lanes found more than 20 shell casings from a .223-caliber rifle, stretching 1,200 feet from Luna Drive to Forrest Road.
He said the Richardson family had just passed the car chase and turned onto Luna Drive when Cortez told his mother he’d been shot.
The Equinox that Harrison’s girlfriend told police she’d rented for him was riddled with bullet holes, Nicholas said, but investigators have yet to locate the car he was chasing, described as a light-colored vehicle with four doors.
Police expect to find that car, and to catch more suspects in the case, the detective said: “There has not been an arrest made yet, but I would say there very likely will be,” he testified.
Harrison’s defense attorney, Stacey Jackson, asked Recorder’s Court Judge Julius Hunter to dismiss the charges, arguing Harrison’s felony murder count is based on his allegedly causing a death while committing the felony of selling drugs, and police can’t prove Harrison had any of the drugs found.
Harrison was not at the Chalbena Avenue residence when police searched it around 1 a.m. that night, and investigators have no proof he ever had control of the drugs there, Jackson said.
He said Harrison claims he never shot at the light-colored car, but only followed it to get its tag number. Harrison was the victim of the shooting, not the aggressor, Jackson argued: “His car is the one that’s shot. His car is the one with the bullet holes in it.”
Prosecutor Nicholas Hud countered that police had three witnesses who told them Harrison was selling drugs, including Harrison’s girlfriend and the man who was wounded in the initial shooting.
Judge Hunter agreed with Hud, sending the case on to Muscogee Superior Court. Harrison is being held without bond.
The mother’s account
In an earlier interview with the Ledger-Enquirer, Tiffany Richardson recounted the events leading to her son’s death.
She said Cortez had just completed his first week of eighth grade at East Columbus Magnet Academy, and on the Friday he was shot, she was preparing for a weekend vacation in Jacksonville, Florida.
She had taken some time off work to get ready, running errands while the kids were in school. When they returned home, she went by the Torch Hill Road house to pick them up, before continuing her errands.
All of her six kids and their grandmother were with her, she said.
After having dinner at Longhorn Steakhouse, they got in the car to go home. “I was actually going to go down J.R. Allen Parkway to Buena Vista Road,” she said. “But, last minute, I changed my mind and went down Macon Road to Forrest Road.”
As they neared the intersection of Luna and Armenda drives, Richardson heard gunshots, and tried to get out of the crossfire.
“As soon as I think I’m clear, that’s when I hear my baby, ‘Mom, pull over, I’m hit,’” she said. Cortez, who had been asleep in the backseat, was gasping for air.
“It was truly a blur,” Tiffany said. “It was like one moment I’m driving my family home, then I’m on the side of the road watching blood gurgle out my son’s mouth as his chest began to fill.”
When police and EMS arrived to take Cortez to the hospital, he looked at his mother and grandmother.
“He looked me in my eyes and I could see the light fade,” his mother said. “That’s when I knew and it became real. My baby is dead ... gone from a stray bullet that he didn’t deserve.”
Rushed to Piedmont Columbus Regional, he was pronounced dead there at 11:51 p.m.