DOUGLAS COUNTY, Ga. — Two teens have been found guilty on all counts in the death of a 15-year-old at a New Year’s Eve Party.
Channel 2 Action News has been covering the trial against Davion White and Jhabre Wilson in the murder of Landon Smith.
It took a jury about two hours to return with all guilty verdicts in the trial of two men accused of killing Landon Smith at a New Year’s Eve party. Smith’s family then visited his grave to share with him the good news.
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Police said Smith was an innocent bystander when he was killed at a party on Deering Court in Douglasville last year. Prosecutors said White and Wilson went to the party looking for rival gang members, but when they didn’t find any, they left in a car and started shooting as they drove away.
On Friday, a jury found White and Wilson guilty on malice murder, felony murder, multiple aggravated assault counts, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and Violation of the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act.
Sentencing is scheduled for a later date.
A family spokesman told Channel 2′s Tom Jones it wasn’t a total celebration.
“It’s bittersweet,” Maxwell Billieon told Jones. “They went to the cemetery to let him know that we did it.”
Billieon says the family really appreciates the jury’s verdict, but it doesn’t soothe their aching hearts. “Even now, even now, we still don’t have a sense of relief cause nothing brings him back,” he said.
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The defense argued it was self-defense and people at the party fired at White and Wilson first.
The jury didn’t buy it.
Billieon says White and Wilson never showed any remorse during the trial.
“They never apologized. There was never a statement. There was never a written statement. At least I hope they will do at the end,” he said.
Douglas County District Attorney Dalia Racine called this case tragic.
“Nobody wins. A mother and father had to bury their child,” she said.
Racine added two young men now face life in prison for trying to gain status in a gang.
“And I don’t know where it is that we as a society decided that it’s more important for our children to value violence, to value status, instead of valuing each other’s lives,” Racine said. “We have these defendants who decided that their status in a gang was more important than the value of his life.”
The District Attorney says the judge in this case will decide if the pair will be sentenced to life in prison with or without parole.
Billieon said the family would like Landon’s killers to serve life without parole.
“There’s no light at the end of this tunnel, except to prevent it from ever happening again.”
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