Witness to friend's murder says defendant was shooter
Nov. 10—Garyuntae Alexander remembers walking along a narrow path near The Milledgeville Manor Apartments with his best friend on June 20, 2020. That Saturday afternoon turned out to be their last walk together.
The 19-year-old Milledgeville man was called as the state's first witness Tuesday morning in the murder trial of Dequanis Parks, who formerly lived in Milledgeville, but later moved to Covington.
Attorneys spent all day Monday selecting a jury for the trial being held in Baldwin County Superior Court in Milledgeville. Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit Superior Court Chief Judge Brenda H. Trammell is presiding over the trial.
The case is being jointly prosecuted by Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit Assistant District Attorneys Nancy Scott Malcor and Tony A. May.
Parks, who is represented by defense attorney Ahmad Crews, of Atlanta, is charged with malice murder, felony murder and two counts of aggravated assault in the shooting death of 16-year-old Cuatez Ma'had Jones.
Parks was dressed in a charcoal-colored suit and dress shirt. He also wore a white mask to guard against the spread of the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic.
The courtroom was nearly packed with family members and friends from both the victim and defendant on the first day of the trial Tuesday.
Under questioning by May, Alexander said he and Jones lived in the same neighborhood and often played basketball together.
May said he knew Jones by the nickname "Tez."
The prosecutor asked Alexander if he knew Dequanis Parks. The witness indicated that he did. Alexander was then asked to point Parks out to the jurors if he saw him in the courtroom. He pointed to Parks, who was seated at the time beside his attorney.
May proceeded to ask Alexander if he remembered the day that his friend was killed and to retrace his steps on that afternoon.
Alexander said he along with Jones and another friend were walking around together in the middle of the road near where the shooting happened, while Parks was riding along in what was described was a black colored car.
He recalled that he and Tez walked along a path near McKinley Street and close to The Milledgeville Manor Apartments.
May then showed Alexander an enlarged map, depicting the area of the path, along with photographs of him and Tez, which he identified for jurors.
Alexander was asked what happened as he and Jones walked along the path.
Alexander said someone hopped out of the bushes.
"So when the person came out, you said you could identify them, who was it," May asked.
Alexander indicated it was the defendant, known to him as Quan.
The prosecutor then asked him what Parks did next.
"He (Quan) acted like he was going to slap him, but he didn't," Alexander said, referring to Tez.
The witness recalled that Quan replied that he was "just playing."
Alexander said he and Tez continued walking down the path. He indicated that he walked in front of Tez and that Quan followed behind his friend.
May asked what happened next.
"I heard gunshots," Alexander said.
May then asked Alexander if anyone else was on the path. He indicated no.
A matter of a few seconds later, gunfire erupted.
He was asked what he did when he heard the gunshots.
"I took off running," Alexander said, noting later he thought he was going to die.
May then asked him what he saw or heard while running.
Alexander indicated that he heard gunfire and felt as if bullets were passing by his ears.
The witness also recalled that his friend was running too at the sound of gunshots.
Alexander remembered asking someone to call 9-1-1 for help because he didn't a cellphone at the time.
After the shooting, he said he went back to check on his friend.
Alexander said Tez was laying on the ground and that he had been shot.
Alexander said he didn't talk with deputies or detectives with the Baldwin County Sheriff's Office at the time because he was traumatized by what happened to his friend. He said his mother called authorities the next day and told a detective what he had testified to in court.
On cross examination, Crews asked Alexander several questions, including whether or not he was a gang member.
Alexander denied affiliation with any street gang.
"A gang is a group of people you hang out with," Alexander said. "I don't know don't know nothing about no gang."
Two other state witnesses testified before the lunch break Tuesday — Baldwin County Sheriff's Office Deputy Kimberly Kile and Sgt. Brandon Towe.
Kile, who was questioned by Malcor, was the first officer on the scene of the shooting, noting she responded to the path near Building K of The Manor.
She found the victim face down and unresponsive. Kile said the victim sustained a gunshot wound to his neck.
At that time, it was unclear whether or not the shooter was still in the vicinity
A crowd began forming in the area and there was screaming and yelling.
Kile said she overheard people in the crowd say the shooter was Quan.
"They said Quan did it," Kile said.
Kile said only one of an estimated 20 people were willing to talk with her at the scene.
Malcor later questioned Sgt. Towe.
He said people were upset, screaming and yelling and that a couple of fights nearly broke out.
Towe said when he flipped the body of the victim over that he saw a bullet hole to the victim's head, as well as another bullet wound close to the left center of his chest.
In his opening statements to jurors, Crews contended that Detective Butch only focused his investigation on his client.
"Evidence will show that authorities dismissed gang intimidation," Crews said. "We will show you that the evidence is misleading. Documentation beats conversation every time."
