Dispute over gun case led to face-off before fatal Columbus shooting, attorney says
A suspect on trial for murder was angry at taking a gun charge so the Columbus man he’s accused of killing could go free, and he had made no secret of it, his defense attorney said Wednesday.
That’s what led to a face-off in the street on Jan. 20, 2021, between Dukes and Deante Caruthers, said Caruthers’ attorney William Kendrick.
Shot three times on Bayberry Drive, in a neighborhood off Buena Vista Road where security cameras caught part of the confrontation, Dukes was driving his white BMW convertible on Moye Road, a few miles away, when he wrecked the car on a curve, bleeding from his wounds.
Police called to the car crash recorded him on body camera saying “Deante Caruthers.” That footage was shown the jury Wednesday.
Dukes, 38, died on the way to the hospital, authorities said.
Court records show that Dukes and Caruthers together were charged with possessing a stolen gun on Dec. 18, 2018. Dukes was charged also with being a felon with a firearm, because of a 2004 conviction for illegally entering an automobile.
His charges were dead-docketed in July 2019, as Caruthers pleaded guilty to the firearms offense. Caruthers was sentenced to five years probation. As a first offender with no prior conviction, his record would have been cleared had he completed his probation.
Caruthers complained bitterly of taking the blame, and Dukes heard about that, Kendrick said. The two men met at a friend’s home before their cars were recorded pulling onto Bayberry Drive and stopping, as the pair faced off, he said.
Kendrick said Dukes was the aggressor, and pointed a gun at Caruthers first. The attorney did not say Caruthers shot Dukes, but that he would have been justified in doing so, under Georgia’s self-defense law.
Prosecutor Austin Hammock, who by law is not required to show a motive for the shooting, told jurors he had enough evidence to prove Caruthers’ guilt, including the security camera video, Duke’s dying words on body camera, cell phone tracking and eyewitnesses.
After opening arguments Wednesday morning, prosecutors got testimony from seven witnesses before court recessed that afternoon. Attorneys had expected the trial to continue through Monday.
Besides murder, Caruthers is charged with aggravated assault and two counts of using a gun to commit a felony. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life without parole. He is 32 years old.
