Suspect goes to trial in midtown Columbus fatal shooting that was over marijuana deal
The case of a Columbus man fatally shot over what police called a marijuana deal is set for trial this week in Muscogee Superior Court.
Zajaliq Stpaul Riley is accused of killing 20-year-old Devion Miley on May 8, 2021, when around 11 p.m., two passersby found the victim mortally wounded on the ground outside the Midtown Shopping Center, 3150 Macon Road.
An ambulance rushed Miley to the emergency room at Piedmont Columbus Regional, where he was pronounced dead about an hour later, shot through the torso.
Riley, 22, faces three charges:
- Felony murder, allegedly for causing Miley’s death while committing the felony of trying to buy marijuana.
- Criminal attempt to commit a felony, for trying to buy marijuana.
- Possession of a firearm in the attempted commission of a felony.
He faces life in prison if convicted.
Second suspect pleads
Riley is one of two suspects police charged in Miley’s homicide. The other, Detric Lashawn “De Train” Bush, also 22, pleaded guilty July 25, agreeing to testify against Riley in exchange for prosecutors’ dismissing his murder charge.
He pleaded to trying to commit a felony, to using a gun to commit a crime, and to having a firearm while on probation.
Having been designated a first offender with no previous felony conviction, Bush had been placed on probation for robbery on Sept. 17, 2019, his indictment says.
His recommended sentence in Miley’s homicide is 15 years with five to serve in prison and the rest on probation, authorities said.
What happened?
Police said their investigation revealed Riley and Bush were to meet Miley to buy marijuana that night, and they were the last people seen with the victim.
Riley’s defense attorney, Michael Garner, disputes that.
Garner agreed that the pair were to buy $500 worth of marijuana from Miley, whom they met at the Efficiency Lodge, 1776 Boxwood Place.
But the attorney maintains Miley did not show up alone, and brought three other associates with him, men Garner described as “drug dealers.”
He said Bush and Riley gave Miley their cash, and he took the money back to his companions, before he was found shot 20 or 30 minutes later.
So, Miley’s three associates were the last people seen with him, not Riley and Bush, and no one is sure how he got shot, the attorney said.
“We don’t know what happened, and they don’t either,” Garner said of the police.
During his guilty plea last month, Bush testified that he was in the front passenger seat of a car with Riley driving and Miley in the back seat when Riley pointed a pistol over the front seat and shot Miley, Garner said.
Months passed before investigators arrested the two suspects. Both were caught in October 2021, during a month-long police crime-suppression campaign that then-Police Chief Freddie Blackmon labeled “Operation Enough Is Enough.”
Among 39 people arrested during the sweep, Riley was captured on Oct. 14 and Bush a week later.
The prosecutor in Riley’s trial is Assistant District Attorney Robin Anthony, who said she does not comment on pending cases.
Bush’s guilty plea before Superior Court Judge Gil McBride was negotiated by Anthony and defense attorney William Kendrick, who could not immediately be reached for comment.