MOULTRIE — A Colquitt County jury has found an alleged member of the “Block Boys” gang guilty on two counts of entering a motor vehicle with the intent to commit theft. The verdict came Wednesday in Superior Court.

Darnell Slaughter III, 18, 704 Pine Drive S.W., will be sentenced later by Judge Richard Cowart.

Slaughter was accused in three thefts of stereo equipment from vehicles in the area of Seventh Avenue Northwest that took place in early February. However, he was convicted on only two of the thefts. During the trial, Cowart ruled the state failed to link the third break-in to Slaughter and directed a verdict of not guilty on that count.

Courtney Mitchell testified he chased three boys away from his Honda Civic. About a block away they got into a red Ford Expedition driven by former Valdosta State University football player Tyran Robinson. Mitchell testified that he saw only the passenger doors open, not the driver’s. He ran back to call police, and when an officer arrived minutes later, Mitchell recognized one of offenders. That alleged offender was Racieh Robinson, Tyran’s brother, and, like Slaughter, believed by prosecutors to be associated with the Block Boys.

The Robinsons’ father, Willie Charles “Red” Robinson, gave police permission to search the Expedition. Officers found several CD players and other stereo equipment. One speaker was so big, Assistant District Attorney Jim Prine of Thomasville had to wheel it into the courtroom on a hand truck.

The items recovered in the SUV were found to be the stolen equipment from the three vehicle break-ins that night.

Racieh Robinson was arrested, but during the process of arrest, Slaughter and co-defendant Christopher Haggins, also an alleged Block Boys member, fled on foot in opposite directions. Slaughter eventually was arrested in June.

Racieh Robinson and Haggins later pleaded guilty in the case, each getting five years in prison. Charges against Tyran Robinson were dropped.

Prine’s case hinged on Mitchell’s testimony and a partial latent fingerprint found on a factory-made CD player left in the back of break-in victim Mary Dillard’s Chevrolet Blazer. Investigators called in a fingerprint identification technician who manually matched nine points of Slaughter’s prints from a previous arrest. The technician said he got another technician to confirm his findings.

Slaughter took the stand as the sole witness in his defense and said that he was acquainted with one of Dillard’s sons and had ridden in the Blazer before and could have touched the CD player.

He testified that he wasn’t involved in the break-ins. He simply was getting a ride home from his girlfriend’s place in the housing projects nearby. He further said that he was on his cell phone with her for 20 to 30 minutes when the other three left him, saying they had to pick up something. They returned and shortly thereafter, police arrived. He testified he did see stereo equipment in the Expedition.

Asked by Prine why he ran, Slaughter said he was on probation (two years left on a theft by receiving conviction).

“I knew I was going to jail for something I didn’t do, so I ran,” he said.

On rebuttal, Prine brought in Racieh Robinson. Robinson, who has a lengthy arrest history, testified that Slaughter joined him and Haggins in one break-in. He couldn’t recall breaking into any other cars that night, he said.

Assistant Public Defender Jon McClure attempted to introduce reasonable doubt by suggesting that Tyran Robinson was the third thief and that law enforcement let him go because of his potential to play professional football. Investigators had compared only prints of Slaughter, Haggins and Racieh Robinson to the partial print retrieved and did not compare those of Tyran Robinson. McClure also asserted that Racieh Robinson lied on stand to protect his brother, which the co-defendant denied.