Two teens plead guilty in Columbus man’s 2020 shotgun slaying
Kelynn Dayshawn Greene was 16 years old when he blasted a Columbus man in the abdomen with a shotgun while trying to rob him of 7 grams of marijuana.
Greene’s accomplice in Javante Jackson’s homicide was almost as young: Dequarius Devonte Richardson was 17 at the time.
Now Greene is 18, and likely to spend the next 30 years of his life in prison after pleading guilty to felony murder, aggravated assault and using a gun to commit a felony.
Superior Court Judge Gil McBride sentenced him to life with possible parole, plus five years probation for the gun offense. Those sentenced to life with parole typically serve 30 years before they’re eligible for release.
Greene pleaded guilty March 20. Richardson, now 19, pleaded guilty Friday to aggravated assault and using a gun to commit a crime. McBride sentenced him to 20 years in prison with 10 to serve and the rest on probation. Prosecutors dropped Richardson’s murder charge.
The pleas resolve a case that began at 1:15 a.m. Jan. 1, 2020, when police found Jackson dead about 30 yards from his girlfriend’s apartment in the 204 building of Elizabeth Canty Homes off Cusseta Road.
What happened?
Friends and family described Jackson, 26, as a kind and generous man with no criminal record. Richardson, who was related to Jackson’s girlfriend, used to live with her in the apartment, investigators said.
Richardson had come by the apartment that day to pick up some of his possessions when he invited Jackson to visit a music studio to rap and sell some marijuana, authorities said.
Instead of buying the marijuana, Richardson and Greene planned to rob Jackson of the small amount he had. When Jackson walked outside the apartment, Greene fired the shotgun into Jackson’s abdomen at close range, investigators said.
Witnesses saw the suspects flee in a white Nissan Sentra that police tracked to a home belonging to Richardson’s father, where officers arrested the pair.
This story was originally published April 13, 2022 at 2:32 PM.