A mother said her 15-year-old son went from having the time of his life to losing his life at a New Year’s Eve party.
Police said Landon Smith was an innocent bystander when he was killed at a party on Deering Court in Douglasville last year.
The trial is now underway for two men accused in Smith’s murder.
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Channel 2′s Tom Jones talked to Smith’s mother, Tiana Florence, who said that she almost didn’t let her son go to the party .
But, Florence said she felt better after her son Facetimed her.
“He was like, ‘Look. I’m having a good time.’ And he was showing me everybody at the party,” Florence said. “He was 15 years old. He didn’t deserve that.”
Moments later, he was killed.
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Prosecutors said Davion White and Jhabre Wilson face murder and other charges after they went to the party looking for rival gang members. They said when the teens didn’t find any, they got in their car and opened fire at the home as they drove away.
“And because of that, an innocent child was murdered,” Assistant District Attorney Brook Demeke said.
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Prosecutors showed the video of a barrage of gunfire at the party. Attorneys for both defendants said they aren’t gang members and went to the party to have fun like everyone else.
They admit they fired guns that night.
“And why did he shoot? Well, self-defense,” White’s attorney, Robert T. Northdurft, Jr., said in court.
Prosecutors said this isn’t a case of self-defense because the defendants fired first. More of that narrative was revealed in day 2 of the trial.
A woman who said she drove the suspected killers to the party said she saw one of them fire multiple shots from her car.
Channel 2′s Tom Jones was in Douglas County Thursday, where the driver also said one of the defendants fired first.
That’s important because the defense said the defendants only fired after someone fired at them.
On Thursday, a witness who was inside the car told prosecutors what she saw and described the mood in the car after the shooting.
Zorree Peeples testified that she and her cousin Karea Cowvins were afraid after Davion White, also known as DJ, started shooting from inside her car right after they left a New Year’s Eve party on Deering Court in 2021.
Cowvins said Jhabre Wilson also fired shots from inside the car.
Peeples said they didn’t say much after the shooting.
“I was scared. DJ had that gun he was acting crazy,” Peeples said. “I didn’t know what he was going to do if I told him somebody passed away.”
Peeples said she then got a test that someone died in the gunfire.
The state said White and Wilson were looking for rival gang members at the party and played a video where Peeples said you can hear White asking about his gang adversaries.
Then, as Peeples’ SUV drove away with White, Wilson and Cowvins inside, a barrage of gunfire rang out.
White’s attorney said his client fired but only after someone started shooting at them.
Wilson’s attorney asked Cowvins about the gun his client fired.
“Did you ever see him lift it and discharge toward anyone?” Max Richardson asked.
“No,” Cowvins responded.
Prosecutors said Cowvins couldn’t have seen where the gun was pointed. The state then asked Peeples to clear up who fired first.
“The first shot that I heard, like, the shot that I heard was in the car,” Peeples said.
A witness testified that she saw gunfire from Peeples SUV and people at the party were shooting too. But prosecutors said Smith was killed by a bullet from the type of weapon Davion White had.
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