‘Stand your ground’ law ends Columbus murder case of man shot in back
A Columbus judge dismissed a murder case Wednesday, finding the accused teen’s actions justified under Georgia’s “stand your ground” law when he shot a man in the back at a city park.
The accused was 16 years old when he repeatedly shot Iverson Gilyard on Aug. 14, 2021, at Linwood-Tillis Park, off 13th Avenue near the Marianna Gallops Senior Center.
The Ledger-Enquirer did not identify the teenager last year because of his juvenile status, and the newspaper is withholding it now because he’s been cleared of the charged crimes.
In June prosecutors asked Superior Court Judge John Martin to authorize them to drop the charges, arguing that according to surveillance video and witnesses at the park, Gilyard initiated the violence, coming to the park basketball courts with a gun and beating the boy over the head with it.
Assistant District Attorney Robin Anthony told Martin that the boy was playing basketball with others when Gilyard came into the park yelling the teen’s name. Brandishing a handgun, Gilyard hit the boy in the head with it. The teen tried to get away, but Gilyard persisted, striking him twice more over the head, Anthony said.
Gilyard, 22, also threatened the teen, saying, “I’m going to bust you in the kidney,” meaning to shoot him, Anthony said.
When parents at the playground complained, Gilyard told them, “My bad. I’m just handling my business,” Anthony said. Gilyard then told the teen to follow him and stuck the gun in the waistband of his pants, saying, “You’d better not run, either,” the prosecutor said.
When Gilyard turned his back to walk away, the teen pulled a gun from his backpack, shooting Gilyard seven times, four times in the back, said Gilyard’s family.
A grand jury in February indicted the teen for murder, aggravated assault and using a gun to commit a crime.
But prosecutors reviewing the evidence decided they could not pursue the case, believing the boy had a right to defend himself to stop the “forcible felony” of kidnapping.
They asked Martin to approve their dropping the case, filing a motion for dismissal on May 26.
The judge decides
In his decision issued Wednesday, Martin agreed, saying that Gilyard was the primary aggressor, that he committed aggravated assault by attacking the teen with a gun, that he maintained possession of that weapon throughout the confrontation and that he ordered the boy not to run.
The evidence showed that the boy believed he was being kidnapped, Martin added, and that “the use of deadly force was necessary to prevent death or serious bodily injury to himself.”
The surveillance video confirmed those findings, the judge wrote.
Martin cited a state statute commonly called the “stand your ground law,” which says someone using force in defense of one’s self or others “has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground and use force, including deadly force.”
The law states: “The fact that a person’s conduct is justified is a defense to prosecution to any crime based on that conduct.”
Compelling prosecutors to pursue the case would have been forcing them to act unethically, he said, writing that “the interest of the state and victim’s family would not be served, but rather perverted by such a half-hearted prosecution.”
Martin added: “Having stated in his motion... that his office believes the defendant acted in self-defense, the district attorney could not now ethically shift positions and argue to a jury that the evidence supports a finding of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Acting with integrity and balanced judgment also includes the exercise of discretion not to pursue criminal charges in appropriate situations.”
He noted that the dismissal motion was a “nolle prosequi,” which makes no finding on the teen’s guilt or innocence. It means only that prosecutors will not pursue the case further.
District Attorney Stacey Jackson declined to comment on the judge’s decision Wednesday. The teen’s defense attorney, Jennifer Curry, was not immediately available for comment because she was in federal court.
In an earlier Ledger-Enquirer interview, Curry said her client and his family were threatened after Gilyard’s death. They had to move because his mother’s home was targeted in a shooting while the boy was held in juvenile detention, she said.
“He has been on home confinement for the past few months, so he’s not allowed to go to school, he’s not allowed to leave his home,” she said. “But after this concludes, his plan is to... leave this area permanently.”
This story was originally published August 17, 2022 at 3:48 PM.