Teen goes on trial for murder Tuesday in drive-by shooting

Published 1:54 pm Monday, June 5, 2017

MOULTRIE — A Moultrie teen accused of firing a bullet that killed a woman enjoying a Sunday outing at the park with her toddler and one of her older children is scheduled to go on trial Tuesday in Colquitt County Superior Court.

Jaquan Willis, who turned 17 in January, is accused of firing a gun from a moving car  in northwest Moultrie after, police said, he and another group of teen-agers had been involved in an earlier confrontation in the area. The shooting took place on March 6 2016.

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Six shots were fired in all, one of which struck 33-year-old Fatisha Annette Clark in the abdomen as she was at at the 307 Seventh St. N.W. park at the Ryce Community Center, according to police.

 When officers were dispatched at 4:25 p.m. to a report of teen-agers fighting in the area of Shaw Gym, they found that Clark had been wounded. She was taken to Colquitt Regional Medical Center, where she died about two hours later.

A Colquitt County Grand Jury indicted Willis on charges of felony murder, aggravated assault and two counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.

Earlier in the day, there had been an incident on Second Avenue Northwest in which a 15-year-old boy pointed a gun at another juvenile, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said during its investigation.

The 15-year-old was charged with aggravated assault and affray.

Although a juvenile, Willis, who was born in January 2000, murder is among the felony crimes — dubbed the “seven deadly sins” — under Georgia law for which the cases of juveniles ages 13-16 automatically are moved to a Superior Court venue. That means they are tried as adults for those crimes.

Georgia law also requires that a judge set a bond, with limited exceptions, for felony defendants who were not indicted within 90 days of their arrest. Willis was arrested on March 8, 2016, and the grand jury indicted him on June 21.

He was released June 24 on a $200,000 bond.

However, police later accused him of violating terms of his bond — which required him to be under home confinement, unless he was working, between the hours of 8 a.m.-5 p.m. — by being out as late as 3 a.m. On Aug. 18 a judge issued a warrant for his arrest and he was again placed in a state youth detention facility. On Jan. 7, after his 17th birthday, he was transferred to Colquitt County Jail, where he remains

Alden Roberts Jr., 25, was indicted on two felony counts — false statements and writings — and four misdemeanor counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

He was accused of making two untrue statements to the GBI related to the activity prior to the shooting: that he did not encourage the teen-agers to fight and that he did not speak with anyone on the phone prior to the fight. The four misdemeanor charges involved encouraging the teen-agers to fight.

He pleaded guilty last year in Superior Court to two counts of obstruction by hindering, both misdemeanor charges, and four counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. He was sentenced to spend 26 weekends in jail, a total of 72 months’ probation, fines totaling $1,800 and 40 hours of community service.

Ja Michael Simpson and Billy Rushing, who were both 17 at the time, pleaded guilty on June 9, 2016, in Colquitt County State Court to one count each of affray. Each was sentenced to 12 months’ probation and 120 hours of community service.