Defendant’s violent past can be used against him in Secoriea Turner murder case, court rules

ATLANTA — The Georgia County Court of Appeals reversed a decision that will allow prosecutors office to use evidence of prior criminal gang activity against the men charged in the killing of 8-year-old Secoriea Turner.

Turner’s life was cut short when she was hit by a stray bullet during a protest over the death of Rayshard Brooks at the hands of police on July 4, 2020. Secoriea and her mother were in a car when gunmen began firing at them on University Avenue where protestors had gathered.

Prosecutors said Jerrion McKinney and Julian Conley were among the gang members blocking an intersection of Pryor Road and University Avenue, pointing rifles at cars driving by.

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McKinney is not charged with the murder, Conley is.

A Fulton County trial judge denied the state’s request to use certain prior criminal acts as evidence against McKinney, including a 2015 incident when McKinney took a stolen firearm to school in Hazelwood, Missouri, and pointed it at a classmate’s head. The state exercised its right to direct appeal, and the Georgia Court of Appeals sided with District Attorney Fani Willis.

This ruling marks the first Georgia appellate decision to consider the application of a Georgia rule of evidence designed to facilitate the admission of a defendant’s prior criminal offenses in gang prosecutions.

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“Fighting gang violence is a top priority for me, especially in a tragic case of the murder of an innocent child,” said Willis. “We appealed in this matter to fight for the principle that the jury should hear the evidence of the defendant’s history of gang violence. I am grateful to the National Alliance of Gang Investigators Associations and Georgia Gang Investigators Association for providing their amicus brief and supporting our office as we work to get justice for all crimes associated with Secoriea Turner’s murder.”

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