Authorities are filing double-murder charges against 12 people after Saturday’s shootout in Augusta between rival motorcycle gangs left two people dead and three injured.
The shootout reportedly involved members of the black motorcycle gang, Outcast Motorcycle Club, and a mixed-race biker gang, Thug Riders MC. Only one of the suspects is from Augusta.
Outcast has their clubhouse on East Boundary and was hosting a gathering, according to witnesses. An argument between the groups led to a shootout around 7 p.m. Saturday near the clubhouse and along Sand Bar Ferry Road, killing 30-year-old Keith Coates of Valdosta, Ga., and 51-year-old Germayne Farrell of Daytona Beach, Florida.
Authorities said no one was cooperating in the investigation, leaving them to charge a dozen of those connected to the shootout with two counts of murder and one count of aggravated assault.
They include:
James Bryant, 31, of Fayetteville, N.C., B/M
Larry Sutton, 42, of Fayetteville, N.C., B/M
Tysen Darrell Harper, 38, of Lumberton, N.C., B/M
Jonathan Keaton, 32, of St. Marys, Georgia., B/M
Larry Ross, 44, of Augusta, Ga., B/M
Deja Dotson, 30, of St. Marys, Georgia, B/M
Cory Sapp, 30, of Kingsland, Ga., W/M
Jessica Sapp, 30, of Kingsland, Georgia, W/F
McKayla Renee Rickett, 26, of Kingsland, Georgia., W/F
Matthew Perry Willis, 28, of St. Mary’s, Georgia, W/M
Freddie Wallace Crosson, 39, of St. Mary’s, Georgia, W/M
Kenneth Lamar Taylor, 43, of Boynton Beach, Florida, B/M
Cory Sapp, 30, of Kingsland, Ga., W/M
Three of those facing charges were shot, including critical injuries to Jonathan Keaton and less serious injuries to Larry Ross and Deja Dotson. Jailers at the Charles B. Webster Detention Center were working through Sunday morning to book many of the suspects into the jail.
As previously reported, the number of people who were shot instantly landed Augusta on the national list of mass shootings that has plagued the United States. The national number hit 260 on Saturday, with a “mass shooting” defined as “an incident of violence in which 4 or more people are shot.”
Complicating Saturday’s investigation are reports that a fire official ran over one of the bodies with his city vehicle, with a witness video showing the incident as it happened live. Several local residents reacted in shock. “That man on the ground dead and the EMS truck just ran him over y’all,” the Facebook user says.
