Judge rules on Columbus sisters’ self-defense claim in fatal city park shooting
The judge in the upcoming trial of two sisters charged in a fatal Columbus city park shooting has rejected claims they should not be prosecuted for acting in self-defense.
That means Ceonna Shikeria Turpin and Eurica Denise Turpin will be tried for murder next week in the death of Mar’kayla Marshall on March 31 last year. Marshall pepper-sprayed Ceonna Turpin before Ceonna Turpin pulled a gun and shot back, hitting Marshall three times and wounding two other women.
Eurica Turpin was charged for allegedly participating in the shooting, though her sister pulled the trigger.
Cell phone recordings of the shooting were shown in Judge Bobby Peters’ courtroom on Friday, when defense attorneys asked Peters to rule their clients were immune from prosecution under Georgia law. They argued that Ceonna Turpin fired to defend herself and her family, and to stop the forcible felony of aggravated assault.
Marshall, 17, was pronounced dead at Piedmont Columbus Regional about 90 minutes after the shooting at Primus King Park, 1321 Staunton Drive. The two others wounded did not have life-threatening injuries, police said.
“I was scared. I was panicking,” Ceonna Turpin testified Friday, saying Marshall showed up at the park with eight other people, and she feared they threatened her, her sister, her mother and a 2-year-old nephew.
She claimed she was blinded by the pepper spray when she fired 11 shots from a Taurus 9-millimeter pistol, during the confrontation, which was preceded by the Turpin sisters’ taunting and threatening Marshall in videos they posted to Facebook.
The dispute was provoked by Marshall’s insulting the Turpins’ grandmother, Ceonna Turpin testified.
Prosecutors argued she was motivated not by fear for her own safety, or that of her family, but a desire for revenge, as presaged by the Facebook videos. Testimony showed Ceonna Turpin had a former lover who had started dating Marshall, whichTurpin learned about the day of the shooting.
Reasons behind the ruling
Peters cited the sisters’ Facebook postings in the decision he filed Wednesday, noting the Turpins insulted Marshall “in a long terroristic verbal attack” and “said they were going to shoot and/or fight Ms. Marshall.”
He also pointed out that Ceonna Turpin posted a Facebook video after the incident, when she “boasted about having committed the shooting and killing the victim.”
Such testimony “could lead a reasonable person to conclude that Ceonna Turpin acted out of revenge for a perceived prior wrong,” the judge wrote.
The defense attorneys can argue at trial that their clients acted in self-defense, the judge wrote, but “a jury must decide if defendants were acting out of hatred, revenge, self-defense, or were legally justified in their actions.”
Because the Georgia law on self-defense allows residents to use deadly force to prevent death or serious bodily injury, the jury also may decide whether pepper spray was likely to cause death or serious injury, the judge said.
Peters also noted exceptions in the state law that say self-defense is no justification if the defendant:
- Initially provoked the use of force with the intent to harm the assailant.
- Was attempting to commit a felony.
- Was the aggressor or had agreed to engage in mutual combat, and without withdrawing from that combat continued to use deadly force.
Ceonna Turpin is represented by public defenders Marie Pardue and Bentley Adams IV, who argued attacking someone with pepper spray constituted aggravated assault, a felony, which their client was allowed to use force to prevent.
Eurica Turpin is represented by Anthony Johnson, who joined in the motion to dismiss the case based on self-defense.
Among the videos prosecutors showed the judge Friday were postings of Eurica Turpin telling Marshall, “We can shoot it out like I said,” and repeating, “Let’s do it.” She later remarked, “Fight it out or shoot it out. We’ll do it.”
Those taunts followed an earlier face-off with Marshall at a Farr Road apartments complex, where Marshall sped away as the sisters tried to fight her there, said Senior Assistant District Attorney Don Kelly. They agreed to meet at the park to settle the feud, he said.
Ceonna Turpin was 16 years old, when she shot Marshall. Her sister was 19. Both are a year older, and each still is being held in the Muscogee County Jail. Their trial is to begin Monday with jury selection.