Man pleads guilty to 2021 fatal shooting
A Fayetteville man pleaded guilty last week to shooting into a vehicle and killing a man following a fistfight on School Street in 2021.
Damonte Emmanuel Niquez Stewart pleaded guilty March 13 to a charge of second-degree murder and discharging a weapon into occupied property in the killing of 22-year-old Jabori Malik Surles. Stewart also pleaded guilty to assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill and an additional charge of discharging a weapon into occupied property for injuring James Ezra White Sr., 55, in the same shooting, according to court records.
Stewart was sentenced to a maximum of 10 years, five months in prison, court records show. He was given credit for the more than two years he spent in jail awaiting trial.
In exchange for the plea, the first-degree murder charge was dismissed, the record shows.
According to an arrest warrant, on
June 27, 2021, Surles and White were sitting in a parked vehicle in the 500 block of School Street when Surles got into an argument with Stewart. Surles and White then left, but returned and parked in the same area, where the argument between Stewart and Surles reignited. This time, however, the two men got into a fistfight, the record states.
After Surles returned to his vehicle, Stewart opened fire, striking Surles at least seven times and White twice.
Stewart was arrested in Richmond County, Georgia, on Aug. 31, 2021, according to a search warrant.
Assistant District Attorney Brian Lewis said the defense claimed Stewart shot Surles because he was fearful that Surles was going to his car to get a gun. A gun was found in the car near Surles when a witness moved his body, according to Lewis.
Lewis said the reason for the argument was not clear.
“This possibly had to do with who’s going to sell drugs on this corner,” Lewis said. “There could have been possible gang involvement.”