‘Smoke, drink, chill’: Crips murder trial witnesses recall Columbus party, shooting
The trial of three alleged “Insane Crips” gang members accused of killing a South Carolina man at Columbus’ Wilson Homes apartments appears headed into a third week.
Gang prosecutors with the Georgia Attorney General’s office have called a string of witnesses who were at the 3400 Eighth Ave. apartments on June 5, 2021, when Marcel Samedi of Rock Hill, S.C., was shot in the head and left for dead outside Building 108.
No one reported Samedi was shot, and for a week police did not know who he was, after a patrol officer called to reports of gunfire found the 21-year-old’s body.
Lead prosecutor Thomas Kegley has told jurors the “Insane Crips” gang had organized a gathering outside the apartments that day, and Samedi was a gang member who had traveled to Columbus with others to attend it.
The shooting resulted from a dispute between two senior gangsters, neither of whom is on trial in Samedi’s death, Kegley said.
The defendants on trial are Corey Troupe Jr., 26; Davion C. Dupas, 22; and Jahiem Rashard Davis, 21. Besides murder, they face multiple counts of violating Georgia’s Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act.
Witnesses who said they were at the apartments the night Samedi was shot have testified they saw the three defendants there when the shooting started. Prosecutors have been showing them surveillance video that recorded the event.
Among those testifying was Michael Scott Barker, who caused a stir Wednesday when he said he was with Troupe at the time, and both he and Troupe fired guns in reaction to the shots they heard.
“We heard gunshots, and then he started shooting and I started shooting, and we ran,” Barker said of Troupe.
Asked why he fired a gun, he said: “I got paranoid and started shooting because I’ve been shot at before.”
Barker, who admitted being in the Insane Crips, said he had a 9-millimeter pistol that night. He said he was granted immunity from prosecution in exchange for his testimony.
That provoked outrage from Troupe’s attorney, William Kendrick, who said the prosecution had not shared any pretrial evidence indicating what Barker would say on the witness stand, so the defense was not prepared to counter it.
Kendrick argued also that Samedi died from a 9-millimeter shot to the head, so Barker’s admitting he fired a 9-millimeter made him a possible suspect, though he was granted immunity.
Kegley told Judge Richard Winegarden that he had shared all his evidence with the defense, so Kendrick should have known what Barker would say.
On Thursday, witness Cory Vaughn testified he also attended the gathering at Wilson, and saw the three defendants there. Shown the video footage, he identified them by their nicknames.
Questioned by Kegley’s associate T. McKenzie Gray, Vaughn recounted the day’s events, saying about 25 people gathered first at Belvedere Park off Buena Vista Road to “smoke, drink, chill,” and then went to a Shark’s restaurant on Wynnton Road to eat.
Then everyone went to Wilson, he said, but they did not go there for any particular reason. They “just pulled up” there “to chill again, smoke, drink.”
Outside court, defense attorneys said they have yet to hear any witness give a clear narrative that explains why Samedi was killed in a conflict involving others.
Kegley in his opening statements to the jury said the conflict was between Makenzie Pearce, who faces no charges, and Michael Douglas Brown Sr., who has been charged with gang violations in Samedi’s shooting.
Brown is not on trial because he was never captured after a grand jury indicted him and four others in the homicide.
A fifth suspect, Elysia Cooley, who was 16 years old when Samedi was killed, is to testify for the prosecution. Her case has been severed from the others and will be decided separately.
Cooley, who was charged with the same offenses as Troupe and Dupas, was expected to testify later Thursday.
Here are the charges:
Troupe, also known as “Lil Pop,” and Dupas, known as “Yungdemon Dee,” both face six counts of violating the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act, two counts of felony murder and one count each of aggravated assault, using a firearm to commit a felony, and first-degree criminal damage to property.
Jahiem Davis, also known as “Zhg Jah,” faces eight counts of violating the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act, three counts of felony murder and one count each of aggravated assault, using a firearm to commit a felony, first-degree criminal damage to property, and being a convicted felon with a firearm.
Each defendant on trial could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted.
This story was originally published February 15, 2024 at 12:14 PM.