Wings Cafe to be closed for two years after fatal shootout
Wings Cafe, the Bloomfield Drive nightclub that was the scene of a Dec. 12 shootout that left three dead and three wounded, will stay closed for at least two years under an agreement announced Wednesday morning and signed later in the day.
“I stand here today along with Commissioner (Virgil) Watkins and announce that the establishment that we know as Wings Cafe is closed for business,” Macon-Bibb County Commissioner Al Tillman said.
At the request of Tillman and Watkins, Macon-Bibb commissioners voted 8-1 on Jan. 6, with Commissioner Elaine Lucas dissenting, to ask Municipal Court for a review of Wings’ alcohol license. The resolution cited a city code provision that allows for license revocation if several violent incidents have occurred at a business.
The consent order signed by Wings Cafe owner Young K. “Tom” Kim and his lawyer Charles Cox heads off that court hearing.
Watkins said he couldn’t guess how that hearing would have turned out, but its proposal and the consequential agreement set a precedent.
“I think that in the future, going forward, club owners are going to realize that security is a priority,” he said. “That is not the place to try to cut costs.”
Bibb County sheriff’s deputies are “more than willing” to work as security in off-hours, and several professional private firms operate locally as well, Watkins said.
Tillman and Watkins spoke Wednesday in the lobby of the Macon-Bibb County Government Center, facing a crowd of about 20, including community leaders who live near Wings and family members of the men wounded or killed in last month’s shooting.
Tillman said Wings’ closure would keep anyone from being harmed there again.
“Let this just be a message to club owners, nightlifers: We welcome you here, we welcome your business. But our citizens should and always will be protected, and that is our first and foremost concern,” he said.
NEGOTIATIONS BEGAN EARLY THIS MONTH
A Jan. 13 email from Cox started negotiation on the agreement, according to Macon-Bibb spokesman Chris Floore. But Tillman said he had spoken with Cox and Kim by phone before that.
The agreement between Kim and Macon-Bibb says the business owner “expressed his desire to no longer operate an establishment at the location in question,” and in return Macon-Bibb will drop its request for a hearing.
Kim agreed not to operate a “dance hall” or “billiard or pool hall” at the 2822 Bloomfield Drive location for 24 months; not to seek an alcohol license there for the same span of time; and not to reopen any business there with the name “Wings Cafe” in that two-year time span.
Twenty-four months is the longest hiatus commissioners could have gotten even if the Municipal Court hearing went forward, Watkins said. At the end of that period, the sheriff and commissioners would have to agree to any new alcohol license, he said.
Kim voluntarily closed Wings immediately after the Dec. 12 shooting and hasn’t reopened out of sensitivity for the feelings of victims and their families, Cox said Wednesday. The alcoholic beverage license expired Dec. 31, and Kim made no attempt to renew it.
“Mr. Kim just did not plan to reopen his establishment, and this seemed to be the easiest way to resolve that,” Cox said.
The agreement states that it is not an admission by Kim of any legal liability or law violation.
The deal doesn’t prohibit Kim from operating “any other acceptable commercial use” on the property or from running any business elsewhere in the county, including ones with alcohol licenses.
The future of 2822 Bloomfield Drive has yet to be determined, Cox said.
“(Kim) hasn’t gotten far enough down the road to decide what else he may do,” Cox said.
Tillman said Kim has told him of willingness to rent the property. Macon-Bibb officials are willing to help keep the building occupied, Tillman said.
“We don’t just plan just to leave him hanging,” he said.
Churches and businesses in the surrounding area already have contacted government officials about possible other uses, perhaps as a community center, he said. Tillman hopes neighbors will come up with more ideas for a positive use that will erase the stigma left by the shootings.
WINGS’ VIOLENT HISTORY
The Dec. 12 gunfire killed Derrick Jackson, 38; George “DJ Fresh” Henley, 34; and Cory Hollingshed, 25. Henley’s girlfriend Nastajah Taylor, 23, was among the wounded. She was shot four times but survived.
Investigators allege the incident was sparked by gang activity between the Crips and Blacc Team gangs, but some of the killed and wounded apparently were innocent bystanders.
Jaquez Terrance Foster, 23; Kenyata Norreece Lester, 29; Markques Patterson, 29; Vertuice Wall Jr., 38; and Eric Watkins Jr., 28, are charged with murder and other crimes related to the shootings. Dashon Johnston, 35, was charged with stealing from Henley’s body.
Beatrice Jackson, widow of Derrick Jackson, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Kim and 10 unnamed defendants. It seeks more than $1.1 million, alleging negligence in providing security despite a history of violent incidents there.
The suit describes Derrick Jackson as an innocent bystander. He died six days after the shooting.
Police have been called to Wings 74 times since it opened in December 2010, Watkins has said. The Dec. 12 incident was the third involving a fatal shooting connected to the business. An indictment alleges that a May 2014 armed robbery was planned at the club; that botched crime killed intended targets Arika Jarrell, 23, and Ralph Heard, 32, behind her house on Fairburn Avenue, hours after the two were seen at Wings. One of the apparent attackers, 25-year-old Terrance “Heavy D” Dent Jr., was fatally wounded when Jarrell fired back, law enforcement has said.
Tillman also acknowledged being personally familiar with the club’s inside.
“I have been a frequent visitor myself,” he said. “People know that I’ve been known to frequent these places, because that’s where you reach these young men and women that seek mentoring and help to change their lives.”
Speaking before commissioners Jan. 6, Cox described Kim as an upstanding businessman who did all he could to prevent trouble at the nightclub. Cox said Wednesday that all he had heard of any other illicit activity at Wings was what he’d seen in the media. He knew of no further legal action against Kim other than the wrongful-death suit, which he’s not handling, he said.
District Attorney David Cooke declined comment on Wings-related matters.
“Obviously we’re in the middle of an ongoing investigation and prosecution, so I can’t comment on anything that might be pending,” he said.
Lt. Sean DeFoe, spokesman for the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office, said deputies aren’t conducting any investigations related to Wings beyond the recent fatal shootings there.
Watkins said Wednesday that violence at Wings was just a symptom of larger problems. A town hall meeting to discuss those issues is scheduled for Jan. 31, and commissioners have approved his idea to hold a series of meetings on violence and youth issues.
“The closing of a club does not solve our greater community problems,” Watkins said.
Information from Telegraph archives was used in this report. To contact writer Jim Gaines, call 744-4489.
This story was originally published January 21, 2015 at 11:10 AM with the headline "Wings Cafe to be closed for two years after fatal shootout ."