Detective: Alexandria man goaded victim into fight, then shot him in his back
A Rapides Parish judge denied a request to reduce an Alexandria man's $1 million bail after hearing testimony that eyewitnesses to a deadly shooting he's accused of live where he would spend his time if released.
George Thomas Carter, 20, was indicted last month on a charge of second-degree murder in the June 13, 2023, shooting of Marcus Atkins Jr., 22. He was arrested on the day of the shooting by the Alexandria Police Department and has been in jail since.
He had filed a motion to reduce bond after he was formally charged with manslaughter in August. That charge was dropped on Monday because of the indictment, and 9th Judicial District Court Judge Patricia Koch ordered the motion to be transferred to the new case.
The first to testify was Sgt. William Butler, the supervisor over violent crimes and detectives for Alexandria Police. He was the detective on call the night of the shooting.
He told Rapides Parish Assistant District Attorney Brian Cespiva that two families who live next to each other in the 900 block of Richmond Drive were hanging out when Carter drove up to hassle Atkins about an incident that happened about a year previously.
One of those families was Carter's.
Carter kept insisting that Atkins fight him, but Atkins refused, Butler said. Finally Atkins agreed to fight Carter, but he told him he'd need to go get his shoes first.
When Atkins turned to walk into his house, Carter shot him multiple times in his back, Butler testified.
"So he shot an unarmed man in the back?" Cespiva asked.
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No weapon was found on Atkins, Butler said.
Carter's mother, Melanie Carter McKinney, was called to testify by his attorney, Christopher LaCour. He asked her if the family had the means to post a $1 million bail, and she said no. She said they couldn't post bail when it was $100,000 on the manslaughter charge.
She said Carter would live with her if he was released to await trial.
As he was questioning McKinney, a member of Atkins' family whispered in the ear of Tiffany Hathorn, the Rapides Parish District Attorney's victim assistance coordinator. Hathorn then spoke to Cespiva, and he asked McKinney if it was true that an eyewitness to the shooting lived in her house.
McKinney asked if he meant her daughter and said she doesn't live in her home. LaCour asked if the people at the shooting site knew each other.
"Absolutely," she replied, adding that they all were family and loved each other.
In wrapping, Cespiva said the evidence in the case is strong with a confession and eyewitnesses.
"This is about as powerful as it gets," he said. "There is zero reason, zero, to reduce bond."
But LaCour told Koch that bond is not meant to be a punishment, but a guarantee that a defendant will show up for court dates. He said courts set bonds so high that almost no one can post them.
He said while courts should take into account the seriousness of a crime when setting bail, it also should be attainable.
Cespiva said the $1 million bail is normal in such a case. He also told Koch that there's a safety issue involved, claiming the eyewitnesses could be in danger if Carter got out of jail. He said he wasn't saying that to scare anyone because it's been happening.
He added he thought Carter's bail should have been set at $2 million.
In denying the motion, Koch said she was "comfortable" leaving the bail as it is. She did say she was concerned about the public's safety if he got out of jail.
Carter then was arraigned on the charge, pleading not guilty. A pretrial conference was set for July 17.
In other cases before Koch on Monday:
A hearing for a motion to reduce the $200,000 bail for Jessica Marie Bledsoe was continued again, this time until July 22. A previous hearing had been rescheduled for Monday. Bledsoe was arrested on a second-degree murder charge by the Alexandria Police Department, accused in the drug-related death of Colfax resident James Morrow Ingram. She has not been formally charged yet.
A sanity contradictory hearing for Henry Dubea was continued until Aug. 24. Dubea is charged with second-degree murder in the June 1, 2021, shooting of his stepbrother, 29-year-old Henry Dorty Jr., at Buhlow Lake. Koch told Dubea that his attorney, Ed Tarpley, was searching for any doctors' records and asked him to think on whether he could help him by remembering the names of any doctors he might have seen in the past.
Two motions — one to reduce bail, another to determine if there's enough evidence to continue with the case — were reset for July 22 in the case of Adrian Christopher-Tobias Augustine. The 20-year-old Pineville man was arrested in May with his girlfriend, 23-year-old Jyrionne Meshaun Crosby, after her 3-month-old was brought to a hospital with injuries consistent with Shaken Baby Syndrome, according to the Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office. The baby later died. Augustine was arrested on a second-degree murder charge, and he was indicted Tuesday on a first-degree murder charge. He remains in jail with bail set at $1,050,000.
A grand jury returned other indictments Tuesday in homicide cases. They are:
Philip Barry Felter, who was indicted on charges of second-degree murder, unlawful disposal of human remains and obstruction of justice. Felter is accused in the death of Buster Evans, 68, whose body was found after a March 30 fire at an abandoned home in Kolin.
Rodney Dale Guillotte and Elisha Chenyenne Mazerolle, both indicted on charges of first-degree murder and second-degree cruelty to juveniles in the April 7 death of their baby. The infant, whose name and age were not released by the Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office, was brought to an Alexandria hospital with "extensive bruising and difficulty breathing," according to a news release. Further examination found injuries to the baby's torso, head, lower extremities and brain. The baby was flown to Children's Hospital in New Orleans, where they died later that day.
Jamie Marie Mullins, who was indicted on a charge of obstruction of justice. Mullins was arrested after the fatal Jan. 21 shooting of a juvenile by a 15-year-old in the 4700 block of Handley Loop in the Tioga area. She was arrested by the sheriff's office the day after the shooting on charges of contributing to the delinquency of juveniles, obstruction of justice, criminal conspiracy and two unrelated contempt of court charges. Days later, she was arrested again on a felony charge of being a principal to negligent homicide.
This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: Detective testifies that man shot Marcus Atkins Jr. in back, killing him
