DOUGLAS COUNTY, Ga. — The third defendant in the murder of 15-year-old Landon Smith was sentenced Tuesday after a New Year’s Eve house party in 2021.
A Douglas County judge says he believes the codefendant in the murder case is remorseful for her actions.
Channel 2′s investigative reporter Ashli Lincoln was the only reporter inside the courthouse when the defendant learned her sentence.
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Eight years to serve out of a 20-year sentence is what a Douglas County judge ordered 22-year-old Madison Boden to serve for her role in a 2021 New Year’s Eve shooting that killed Smith, who was an innocent bystander.
Smith’s mother Tiana Florence spoke Tuesday during Boden’s sentencing.
“She is the lynchpin in this case, if you don’t pull the pin, the grenade does not go off,” said Florence.
Boden testified during an October trial against her codefendants she brought a rifle to a New Year’s Eve party.
Boden explained to a jury how she ended up bringing a Draco rifle to the party. She says it began when defendant Jhabre Wilson Facetimed her that night.
“He asked me to pick up a gun from our friend’s house,” she stated.
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Boden testified Wilson asked her to bring co-defendant White’s weapon to the party on Deering Court in 2021 because rival gang members were there. Boden drove from Alpharetta.
She says White, known as DJ, grabbed the weapon when she got to the party.
Prosecutors say when White and Wilson did not find gang members, they fired multiple shots as they rode away in a friend’s SUV. A bullet hit and killed Smith.
“He asked me to pick up a gun from our friend’s house,” Boden said.
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Boden told Smith’s family during her sentencing she was remorseful for her actions.
“I’m not here today to beg for your mercy or for anybody’s forgiveness or leniency towards me in this situation. Solely, I’m here to offer my condolences to the Smith family,” Boden said.
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