UNION — Two of the four men charged with murder in the shooting death of a Union teen will remain in jail after a judge denied them bond Wednesday, citing the danger their release might pose to them and the community.
Chadrick Harold Johnson, 23, 851 Cambridge St., Carlisle; Devonta Elemeshion Mobley, 20, 124 Lawrence St., Carlisle; Daveus Lamonte Boler, 18, 4879 English Ave., Carlisle; and Danny Ray Gossett, 21, 208 Leroy Gossett Road, Union, are each charged by the Union County Sheriff’s Office with murder, attempted murder, malicious injury and discharging a firearm into a dwelling.
The four are charged in the shooting death of 17-year-old Dequan Tyrone Jones. Jones and a second man, 20, were shot in Lukesville Road area of Buffalo around 2:30 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 12. The two were transported by private vehicles to the emergency room at Wallace Thomson Hospital where Jones died a short time later. The second victim’s wounds were non-life threatening and he has since been released from the hospital.
Johnson was arrested the day of the shooting while Mobley was arrested Aug. 24. Boler and Gossett were arrested at their homes on Aug. 29.
After being arrested, all four went before a Union County Magistrate for a bond hearing and all four were denied bond.
Since they are charged with murder, the four are entitled to a bond hearing before a Circuit Court judge, and on Wednesday Johnson and Mobley had separate bond hearings before Judge Frank Addy Jr. of Greenwood.
Sixteenth Circuit Deputy Solicitor John Anthony told Addy that the shooting occurred around 2:30 a.m. on Aug. 12 in front of a house on Lukesville Road in Buffalo. Anthony said that Jones and another victim were shot in the incident with Jones being hit once in the leg and once in the buttock. He said the bullet that struck Jones in the buttock perforated his pancreas, intestine and heart, killing him. The other man was also shot in the leg.
Anthony said that Johnson, who was identified by witnesses as the driver of the vehicle from which the shots were fired, had admitted to driving the car but denied firing any shots. He said that Johnson claimed Mobley was the only person in the car who fired at Jones and the second victim. However, Anthony said that in his statement, one of Johnson’s co-defendants claimed that Johnson did fire shots from the vehicle.
Anthony said Johnson also claimed that a man at the party on Lukesville Road had fired at the car first. He said there was no evidence of any shots being fired at the car, but that spent 9mm shell casings had been found on the road where the car had been at the time of the shooting.
Anthony said that Johnson, Mobley and Boler are from Carlisle and that there is an ongoing rivalry between a group in that community and a group in Union.
Sixteenth Circuit Solicitor Kevin Brackett also spoke about the rivalry, describing it as a “particularly troubling situation” involving “tit-for-tat” reprisals between the two groups.
Brackett also spoke about the shell casings recovered from the scene. He said that in addition to the 9mm shell casings, investigators also recovered .380 and assault rifle shell casings.
Describing the shooting as a “wanton act of violence,” Brackett said the suspects had opened fire in a neighborhood without regard for the safety of the residents. He said that there have been many instances in which bullets fired in this manner is such surroundings had passed through windows and doors, wounding and killing people in their homes.
Anthony and Brackett both asked Addy to deny Johnson bond citing the potential danger his release might pose to himself and the community.
Johnson was represented by attorney Derek Mobley who pointed out that Johnson had turned himself in the day of the shooting and had cooperated fully with the authorities. He described this as a “very courageous act” that involved him providing investigators with information on people he’d grown up with and violating a code of silence that forbids cooperation with law enforcement.
Reviewing the physical evidence gathered and being analyzed by the authorities, Johnson’s attorney said that the results of this analysis will demonstrate that no shots were fired from the driver’s side of the vehicle Johnson was driving. They would demonstrate, however, that shots had been fired from the passenger side of the vehicle in keeping with Johnson’s claim that he did not shoot at anyone.
Johnson’s attorney also pointed out that authorities are still in the process of recovering fingerprints from a 9mm pistol recovered at the scene. He said those fingerprints, along with evidence gathered from the analysis of the bullet retrieved from the victim, could potentially cast a new light on the shooting, possibly confirming Johnson’s claim that he and his companions were fired on first.
In asking for bond, Johnson’s attorney said that while in jail Johnson had been receiving threatening notes and his family receiving threatening texts. He asked for surety bond and 24-hour house arrest and GPS monitoring of Johnson at a secure location that would only be known to himself, the judge, and the solicitor and deputy solicitor.
Mobley was represented by attorney Erik Delaney who also asked for bond, citing his client’s cooperation with the authorities. Mobley had admitted to being in the car but denied firing any shots. Delaney asked for house arrest and any other conditions the court might impose on Mobley.
Anthony, however, pointed out that Mobley had a much more extensive criminal record than Johnson who had been convicted of disorderly conduct in 2007 and open container in 2011. He said Mobley had been convicted of strong arm robbery in 2011 and assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature in 2009 as well as an assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature as a juvenile. At the time of his arrest, Anthony said Mobley was out on bond for distribution of crack cocaine. He said Mobley’s record made for an even stronger case for denying him bond.
Addy rejected both Johnson and Mobley’s request for bond, citing both the need for more information about the incident and “the inherent danger” their release could pose to themselves and the community.
“This is a very dangerous situation,” Addy said. “This stuff needs to end and it needs to end now.”
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