Testimony began Tuesday, Aug. 23, in the murder trial of three men accused of participating in a drive-by shooting that caused the death of a 16-year-old at a baby’s birthday party.
Devone M. Gavin, 22, Trevon D. Crump, 24, and Keonte E. Hall, 22, have pleaded not guilty in Richmond County Superior Court to multiple charges including murder, aggravated assault and weapon violations.
The drive-by shooting the night of June 22, 2017, on Jonathan Court left 16-year-old Nicholas Griffin dead.
Assistant District Attorney William Hammond told the jury in his opening statement Tuesday that Griffin wasn’t the target that night, but another young man at the party was. Gavin wanted revenge on that young man because he didn’t help Gavin when a few days earlier when he was pistol whipped and robbed of a gun.
A red car, like the one a witness saw Gavin, Crump and Hall exiting that night, was used by the shooters, Hammond said. In the car was a .40-caliber bullet, and at Gavin’s home a .22-caliber bullet was found. The same caliber ammunition was used in the shooting.
That might sound bad, defense attorney James Walker told the jury, but that’s just one side. Different witnesses gave different descriptions not only of the car but the number of people in the car, where shots were fired from and even the driver’s hairstyle.
Defense attorney Daniel Franck told the jury in his opening statement that Gavin was a typical 17-year-old that summer and he was doing what he usually did — working and hanging out with friends. The night of the shooting he worked then returned home and hung out with his friends.
Defense attorney Peter Johnson said his client, Hall, was also working that night. The initial police report said that the vehicle used in the drive-by was a red Dodge Charger and the named shooter wasn’t his client or the other two on trial this week. There’s no doubt there was a drive-by shooting, but the issue is who was involved, Johnson said, and it wasn’t Hall.
Sandy Hodson is a staff reporter covering courts for The Augusta Press. Reach her at sandy@theaugustapress.com.
