Alleged drive by shooter killed, his accomplices charged with murder

Two Milledgeville men and a 15-year-old boy each were charged with felony murder in the Nov. 6 death of Jyleel Decovas Solomon, who authorities say was shot in the head while riding in a car with them during an apparent drive by shooting.

Solomon was wounded in the backseat of a white Pontiac Grand Prix on the night of Nov. 6. Malik Nashiem Taylor, 21, and Jemerius Trevontaine Goodman, 24, and the 15-year-old were also in the car with Solomon as it rode by a house in the 100 block of Central Avenue.

Bullets started flying.

“What we believe we can prove is that their sole intention for driving by that residence was to shoot at a group of people standing in the yard,” Baldwin County sheriff’s Capt. Brad King told The Telegraph.

Goodman, Taylor, Solomon and the unnamed teen “initiated the gunfire,” and someone standing in the yard shot back, wounding Solomon.

A 16-year-old girl also standing in the yard was wounded but survived.

Goodman, Taylor and the teen originally were charged with aggravated assault, but King said Tuesday that charge had been upgraded to felony murder plus four counts of aggravated assault.

“The law on that is extremely clear,” King said. “When you commit a felony that causes the death of another human being, regardless of malice, you are guilty of felony murder.”

Solomon, from Gordon, was 23 years old. Authorities suspect the person who shot him from the yard was acting in self defense, King said.

The motive for the drive by shooting remains unclear and King declined to say whether it is believed to be gang-related.

“There is an element there (but) that would be another decision for (the district attorney) on whether we explore gang related charges for this particular event,” King said.

Goodman and Taylor had been in the Baldwin County jail since the night of the shooting. The 15-year-old was recently arrested and taken to a youth detention center in Eastman.

Laura Corley 744-4334; @Lauraecor

This story was originally published December 12, 2017 at 3:23 PM with the headline "Alleged drive by shooter killed, his accomplices charged with murder."