Breaking News: A jury has found Demonta “Gangsta” Gardner guilty of burglary. He was found not guilty on the charge of armed robbery. Lowndes County Circuit Court Judge Jim Kitchens said Gardner is facing another burglary charge and he was remanded into the custody of the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office. He will be detained at the Lowndes County Adult Detention Center until he is sentenced. Kitchens denied bond for Gardner.
Previously: Jurors today will begin deliberations in the trial of Demonta Dewayne “Gangsta” Gardner. Gardner, 19, of 917 11th Ave. S, was arrested September 29, 2011 and charged with armed robbery and burglary of a dwelling. He was arrested with Bobby Adonis Bluitt, 18, of 609 South Gaywood Ave., Tevin Rashad Oglen, 18, of 494 Dogwood Blvd., Jeremy Billups, 17, of 412 E. Gaywood Ave., Corey Jamar Lathan, 17, of 384 Long Drive and Michael Satterfield, 17, of 1622 Washington Avenue for allegedly participating in the robbery of Karen Winter’s home at the Sandpiper Apartments at 320 Eighth St. N.
In a day filled with finger pointing, back stabbing, contradictions and conflicting testimony, both sides rested at around 4 p.m.
Winter was the first witness to take the stand. She painted a harrowing picture of being robbed at gunpoint in her home.
“I was watching the news, and I heard a knock at the door and someone say something,” Winter said. “I thought it was someone who lived upstairs. I went to unlock the door and someone pushed it in and pulled a gun on me. I remember seeing a black male with a bandana over his face, and he had long dreadlocks. They made me get on the ground and cover my head. It lasted about 10 minutes.”
Among the items stolen from Winter, a 12 year employee of the Colom Law Firm, were a 50″ flat screen TV, two laptops, her purse, her medicine bag, a change canister and about $80 in cash. Winter said she had retrieved some of the items from the Columbus Police Department.
The question on Tuesday was who were the masterminds behind the incident, with conflicting testimony creating three scenarios: Gardner and Lathan (who was reported to have long dreadlocks through testimony), Gardner and Oglen and Lathan and Oglen.
Satterfield took the stand as a witness for the state. Under oath, Satterfield said he and Billups, Oglen, Lathan and Bluitt went to get Gardner from his home. He said Gardner said he wanted to “hit a lick,” a street term for robbing or stealing. A plot was concocted to rob a “dope boy” or drug dealer known as “A1.”
Satterfield said a trip to Sandpiper Apartments found A1’s apartment empty.
He also stated there were two guns involved in the crime: a small revolver and 40 caliber semi-automatic. Both of the guns were found in Bluitt’s vehicle when the six males were arrested. He claimed the semiautomatic was retrieved at Gardner’s house.
“I stayed outside of the house,” Satterfield said. “Tevin (Oglen) knocked on the door and pushed the door in and held the gun to the back of the lady’s head. I was watching from the window. I was under the influence of Adderall, and it scared me and kind of made me come back to reality.”
Of all of the testimony, one story was consistent: the suspects took the stolen goods to Gardner’s sister’s apartment on Southside as a place to store the loot.
Satterfield, who appeared in court in an orange Lowndes County Adult Detention Center jumpsuit, was recently arrested for grand larceny.
Gardner’s attorney, Carrie Jourdan, accused Satterfield of changing his testimony, a common tool she used throughout the day.
“In your first interview with the police, you denied knowing anything about the robbery and said the police would one day owe you an apology,” Jourdan said during her cross examination of Satterfield. “In fact you never told any of these details until you and your attorney met with (Assistant District Attorney Mark Jackson) yesterday. You are being held without bond, and you are trying to get out of trouble.”
“I wasn’t myself — I wasn’t ‘Little Mike,'” Satterfield said. “I knew we were about to hit a lick, I just didn’t know where. I wasn’t wearing a mask, so I didn’t go in the house. Corey (Lathan) and Tevin (Oglen) are the ones who came to the car with the guns.”
Co-defendant Jeremy Billups said under oath Oglen was the mastermind behind the crime.
“We were shooting basketball and Tevin (Oglen) said he wanted to ‘hit a lick’ and told us to take him to Demonta’s (Gardner) house.”
Billups said Oglen got the semiautomatic handgun from Gardner. He also linked a black ski mask with handmade eye-holes to Oglen. Billups denied being involved with the actual robbery.
Gardner’s testimony also placed Oglen, along with Lathan, as the ring leader. He said he knew they were going to “hit a lick,” but he, too, did not participate in the crime.
“I told (Oglen), ‘We ain’t going to rob no old white lady,’ and asked them to take me home,” Gardner said. “(Oglen) started waving the gun around and called me some names.”
When Jourdan questioned Gardner on why he didn’t “just leave,” he said he “wasn’t being smart” and “his ankle was hurting him,” as tears streamed down his face.
Oglen was the last member of the six to take the stand.
Oglen’s testimony placed Gardner as the instigator of the crime.
“I just wanted to go to some dope boy’s house to get some marijuana,” Oglen said. “I didn’t know we were going to rob the dope boy until we got there.”
Although he admitted to pointing a gun at Winter, he denied holding it to the back of her head.
“I pointed the gun at her, and then I sat on the couch,” Oglen said. “I know what I did was malicious, but I’m not that type of person.”
“Everyone has identified you as the one with the gun and you are in a lot of trouble,” Jourdan said as she rested her case for the defense.
The state and the defense will present closing remarks today before the case is given to the racially and gender-mixed jury.
Jeff Clark was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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