Columbus murder trial of two suspects in teen’s death begins. Witnesses testify
Opening statements began Tuesday morning in the murder trial of two suspects in the 2023 death of a 16-year-old in Columbus.
Akiraon Reed, 18, and Andrew Crowell, 21, face criminal charges including felony murder and malice murder in the shooting death of Dayton Willis on Aug. 31, 2023.
Willis was found in his aunt’s car suffering from multiple gunshots in front of a ball field at Double Churches Park, according to officials.
Assistant District Attorney Meghan Bowden told jurors, “This case is very simple. Here’s what it’s about: On August 31st, of 2023, Andrew Crowell, sitting right there, and Akiraon Reed, shot and killed Dayton Willis on Double Churches Road.”
Bowden said evidence would show Willis attended Northside High School, where he met Reed, and they were friends. She said Willis didn’t know Crowell but Reed knew him.
Reed was living at The Palms apartment complex at the time and Crowell had a girlfriend who lived there, Bowden told the jury.
Bowden said jurors would see a message sent by Reed to Willis’ Instagram account around 11:18 p.m. that said, “Here I come.” She also told jurors they would see surveillance video from The Palms of two people leaving the apartment complex and getting into Willis’ car.
Cellphone records will show Reed’s phone was with Willis’ until shortly after the shooting, Bowden said. Cellphone records also will show Crowell’s phone was in the area at the time of the shooting and moving along with Reed and Willis’ phones, she said.
Bowden said the jury will hear the shots in a surveillance video from a church in the area. The car proceeded to roll at a low speed until it stopped after hitting a tree about a half mile up the road, according to Bowden.
The church surveillance video will also show Crowell and Reed walk out of the woods toward The Palms, Bowden said. Shell casings found at a bridge and in the vehicle were linked to two 9mm weapons after a GBI analysis, according to Bowden.
Bowden said Willis had a revolver, but it was never used. The detective on the case would receive a ballistic lead from the shells at the scene, matching them to a separate crime investigation in which Crowell is linked to, according to Bowden’s opening statements.
“They executed him (Willis) for no reason,” Bowden told the jury. “That is what the evidence is gonna show, and I’m gonna ask you to find the verdict of guilty on every single count.”
Opening statements for the defense
Shevon Thomas II, representing Reed, told the jury his client was 15 at the time of the incident. Thomas said the state must prove Reed is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
In his opening statements, Thomas stressed one question to the jury: “What happened in that car?”
Thomas said his client and Willis were friends.
“This was not a robbery between strangers,” Thomas told jurors. “This is not a calculated plan by hardened criminals. This was three teenagers making reckless and immature decisions late at night.”
Thomas said he believes the evidence will show Willis, Reed and Crowell were going around and breaking into cars and planning to steal cars.
Thomas said he isn’t going to tell the jury his client is an angel.
“Everybody was up to no good that night,” Thomas said.
Thomas told the jury the church surveillance video will allow them to hear gunshots, see the car rolling and crash into the tree and two people walk back toward the vehicle. However, he said, the video won’t show the shooting.
“You will not see what happened inside that vehicle in the moments before the gunfire,” Thomas said.
Thomas said those missing moments are where the state’s theory falls apart.
William Kendrick, representing Crowell, said the issue in this case is whether the state can prove beyond a reasonable doubt each and every element of the crimes they have waged against the defendants.
There were no text messages between Crowell and Willis, Kendrick said. He also said there is no gun in this case.
Kendrick said he expects the jury will hear the vehicle in this case was fingerprinted and no fingerprints came back to Crowell.
Kendrick asked the jury to hold the state to their burden.
Columbus Police Department officers testify
Columbus Police Department Cpl. Brendan Martin said he was a patrol officer in 2023. Martin testified he responded to Double Churches Road to a call of a vehicle on the side of the road.
Martin said Columbus Fire & EMS were already at the scene and the back passenger side door of the vehicle was busted. Fire & EMS personnel busted the back driver’s side window to gain access to the vehicle to get to the victim, Martin said.
The person in the vehicle appeared to be dead, Martin said. When asked for a description of what the person in the car was wearing, Martin said the person was wearing all black clothing.
Sgt. Benjamin Braddy, with CPD’s Crime Scene Investigation Division, testified he collected evidence from the Double Churches Road bridge that passes over I-185. Braddy showed photographs of two shell casings he said he collected on the bridge as evidence.
Cpl. Vaughn Maxwell, also with the CPD CSID, testified he collected various pieces of evidence from the scene of the car where the victim was found. Maxwell said he collected a .38 special revolver, five cartridges from that revolver, a cellphone from the victim’s body and the victim’s wallet.
Maxwell testified the .38 special revolver was between the victim’s body and the console where his body was slumped over and that the gun was not in any of the victim’s clothing.
There were shell casings in the floorboard of the front passenger seat and a shell casing in the floorboard of the rear passenger side seat, according to Maxwell’s testimony.
Maxwell testified there was a bullet penetration mark on the outside of the driver’s door where the bullet exited after hitting the inside of the door. Maxwell said the inside of the driver’s door showed two bullet impact points.
There were also two bullet entrances on the outside of the rear passenger side door, according to Maxwell’s testimony.
Photos were shown of multiple gunshot wounds to various portions of Willis’ body. A photo of Willis’ phone was also shown. It displays a GPS map that Maxwell said shows directions to The Palms.
Other testimony
Martaya Mizell testified he and Teresa Hixon were driving home when they passed a car in the middle of the road. Mizell testified he heard gunshots and saw flashes from the car in his rearview mirror but couldn’t see anyone.
Mizell saw the vehicle again when it was near the Double Churches baseball field and saw a truck stop and a person walking up to the car, according to his testimony.
Hixon said she was asleep in the back of the car with Mizell when the gunshots woke her up. Hixon testified she also didn’t see anyone standing outside the vehicle or see anyone inside the vehicle.
This story was originally published March 11, 2026 at 5:00 AM.