Columbus gang trial loses jurors in teens’ double-murder case, no substitutes left
The second day of testimony in the allegedly gang-related 2021 deaths of two Columbus teens started with arguments over jurors.
The trial was interrupted two hours later when a juror said one suspect’s mother pointed a cell phone at him from the audience, prompting Judge Gil McBride to ban cell phones in the courtroom.
The spectator identified herself as the mother of Rodderick Glanton, but denied pointing her phone at the jury.
“I haven’t pointed my phone at anyone,” she said.
McBride then said the phones had become a distraction, and said anyone violating his order to leave them outside faced being held in contempt and possibly jailed.
That was after two jurors in the trial of three suspects accused of carrying out the killings in the interest of a local street gang admitted they knew people connected to the case.
Both jurors were women. One said she was friends with the late mother of a crucial witness, Glanton’s girlfriend. The other said she had met one of the victims, Saiveon Pugh, when he was around 10 years old.
She said her sister was friends with Pugh’s mother, also deceased, and the sister used to have Pugh in her care.
Defense attorneys objected to excusing the first juror, but Judge Gil McBride dismissed both, cutting the number of those hearing the case to 12, with no remaining alternates to replace any more jurors excused.
McBride already had dismissed a juror Tuesday, after the woman reported having an upcoming vacation she had neglected to mention during jury selection.
Losing another juror could trigger a mistrial, and defense attorneys initially questioned whether the juror reporting Glanton’s mother was compromised by the incident.
Later they said they were satisfied with McBride’s decision to let that juror continue serving.
Execution or self-defense?
In opening statements Tuesday afternoon, prosecutor Cara Convery told jurors the suspects carried out an “execution” of Pugh, 18, and Jessie Ransom, 17, at Columbus’ Wilson Homes in June 2021.
The defendants accused of firing more than 50 shots at the Dodge Dart the teens were in are brothers Terrance Upshaw, 31, and Homer Eugene Upshaw, 28, and Glanton, 28.
“On June 14, 2021, four people were gunned down in a small silver sedan in the Wilson Apartment complex, and two people were executed,” Convery told jurors.
She alleged the defendants are with a hybrid street gang, the Marlows, who were based in Wilson.
The victims were in the area looking for girls, she said. “The problem is they’re driving in Wilson,” Convery said.
The car drove past the residence twice, she said, calling the site a “trap house,” a place used for drug dealing.
Defense attorneys said those in the Dodge were associated with a rival street gang called the Zohannons, who were planning to shoot the defendants.
Terrance Upshaw is represented by Shevon Thomas II. Homer Upshaw is represented by William Kendrick. Glanton’s attorney is Allen C. Jones.
“This is a clear cut case of self-defense,” Thomas told the jury.
Jones echoed that. “This is not an execution,” he said, telling jurors one victim was wearing a mask that covered all but his eyes. A gun also was found in the Dodge, he noted.
“Who goes and meets a group of girls with their face covered up and an AR-style weapon in their hands?” Jones asked.
Kendrick also pointed to that, saying, “That’s the uniform for a drive-by,” and telling the jury, “I think the issue in this case is, ‘How do you defend yourself against a drive-by?’”
The gang war
A 21-count indictment charges all the three suspects with murder, aggravated assault, criminal damage to property, possessing guns while committing felonies, and violating Georgia’s Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act.
Convery and co-counsel T. McKenzie Gray are with the state attorney general’s gang prosecution unit, which alleges the Marlow gang is associated with the more powerful US World.
US World is affiliated with national gangs such as the Gangster Disciples and Crips, authorities said.
Columbus police have said the Zohannons and US World had a gang war in 2021, a factor in the 70 homicides Columbus reported that year, a recent peak.
Authorities say the evidence against the three includes surveillance video that shows the shooting. That footage is to be shown the jury as the case proceeds, prosecutors said.
Police said they got multiple calls to the shooting at the intersection of 32nd Street and Seventh Avenue, and found four gunshot victims near Building 316 of Wilson Apartments, at 3400 Eighth Ave. Two of those victims survived.
Besides murder charges for the deaths of Pugh and Ransom, the three suspects face aggravated assault counts for the victims who survived.
Homer Upshaw has additional weapons and drug trafficking charges because of a prior felony conviction, and because police said he had 10 pounds of marijuana when they arrested him July 26, 2021.
Reporter Kelby Hutchison contributed to this story.
This story was originally published November 1, 2023 at 11:58 AM.