Two teens convicted of murder
SUMMERVILLE, Ga. — Two Rome, Ga., teenagers are going to prison for life after a jury convicted them of murdering a convenience store clerk in a robbery for cash, cigars, cigarettes and Doritos.
Assistant District Attorney Kevin
Baugh relied on surveillance video, taped jailhouse phone calls and testimonies from acquaintances of Dylon Dave Allen and Zaykives Banard McCray in his closing arguments against the two men Friday morning. Allen’s and McCray’s lawyers attempted to discredit the testimonies, telling the jury that the people
speaking out were framing them to stay out of prison themselves.
Baugh said the testimonies fit perfectly with surveillance videos of Allen and McCray during the robbery and at a McDonald’s in Armuchee later that night. It also fit with evidence found at Allen’s girlfriend’s apartment when investigators searched it.
“With this many layers of evidence,” Baugh told the jury, “reasonable doubt is not only gone — it’s obliterated.”
In January 2016, two men wearing masks burst into the Melanie Inn Convenience Store on Hawkins Drive in Summerville. According to surveillance video, one of them shoved a customer to the ground. The other shot the clerk, 47-year- old Chiragkumar Patel, in the gut with a .380 handgun.
Between punching and kicking and pistol-whipping him, the men yelled at Patel: “Where’s the money?” and “You’re going to die!” and “This [expletive] feels good!”
Investigators said the robbers took Black & Mild Cigars, Kool 100 cigarettes, rolls of pennies, about $350 and bags of Doritos. They then met up with an acquaintance, Shannon Coalson, who was parked with her roommate a couple of blocks south of the convenience store.
The next day, after a customer at the store told police the robbers left in a red Chrysler Sebring, officers pulled over Coalson’s boyfriend, who was driving her car. Wrappers for the cigars and the Doritos were in the back seat. Police then searched Coalson’s apartment.
Coalson later told them that she drove Allen and McCray, who were both 18 at the time, from Rome to Summerville the night of the robbery. She said she thought the men were getting money from one of their family members. Later, Baugh said, investigators searched Allen’s girlfriend’s apartment and found cigars, cigarettes and rolls of pennies that matched the description of what was stolen from the convenience store.
Jad Johnson and Steven Miller, attorneys for the defendants, argued that Coalson’s testimony against Allen and McCray was unreliable. They told the jury that Coalson’s boyfriend and another man might have committed the robbery, and Coalson could be testifying to keep the real robbers safe. Plus, they said, she was cooperating with investigators because she was the one driving the getaway car and could be in trouble if prosecutors wanted to charge her.
“The entire linchpin of this case hinges on Shannon Coalson,” Johnson said. “Shannon Coalson is a liar. Period.”
The jury convicted Allen and McCray both of malice murder, felony murder, armed robbery, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during a crime, wearing a mask to conceal their identity and simple battery. In Georgia, the lightest sentence for a person who commits murder would be life in prison — with the possibility of parole.
The parties in the case will return to Chattooga County Superior Court at 9 a. m. Monday for a sentencing hearing.
On Friday afternoon, the jury deliberated for about 80 minutes before reaching its verdict. Allen’s mother, Lorraine McKnight, said after the conviction that her son is innocent. She called the statements in court against Allen and McCray “trash testimonies.” She also said she believed race played a part, as both of the defendants were black.
“We had an all- white jury,” she said. “Everything in that courtroom was white.”
Penni Ware, the jury foreperson, said she and the 11 other people deciding the case knew by the end of closing arguments that they were going to convict Allen and McCray of all but one charge. Three members of the jury at first were not sure whether to convict McCray of possession of a firearm, because prosecutors said Allen was the one who brought the .380 into the convenience store.
Under Georgia law, a couple of legal elements could lead to that conviction for McCray. First, he could be part of a conspiracy to commit the robbery, planning it out with Allen. In that case, McCray would also be on the hook for anything Allen did. Also, McCray could be considered a “party to the crime,” meaning legally he is also guilty of the firearm possession because he helped Allen.
While defense attorneys tried to dispute Coalson’s testimony in their closing arguments, Ware said she was swayed by a surveillance video and some recorded conversations. The footage of the robbery, which was in color, showed one man wearing a white shirt, with red boxers poking out of his pants.
Less than an hour later, surveillance video at the McDonald’s showed Allen, McCray and Coalson together. McCray wore a white shirt, with red boxers showing.
After police arrested the men, McCray placed a phone call from jail. He explained that he had seen the investigative file against him, which showed Coalson and her roommate both cooperating with police.
“The little —— is talking,” McCray said. “The little —— is telling everything. I’m talking about everything. … If they don’t come to court, they can’t use that —— against us.”