Prosecutor to Macon murder jury: ‘Send a message!’ But accused killer found not guilty

In an impassioned closing argument at the murder trial of a Macon man accused of gunning down a marijuana dealer two and a half years ago, a Bibb County prosecutor implored jurors to “send a message” to criminals.

Nancy Scott Malcor, chief assistant district attorney, stood before a jury of nine women and three men Thursday afternoon and asked them to convict 22-year-old Steve Anthony “Bear” Fort in the robbery and shooting death of Javoris Q. Butler.

But after deliberating into Friday afternoon, jurors acquitted Fort of murder, armed robbery and aggravated assault charges, convicting him of a lone kidnapping charge.

Butler, 29, was slain in July 2015 at the Pendleton Homes housing project on Houston Avenue in south Macon. Butler, who according to testimony was known to sell marijuana, had been gathered with friends and family outside an apartment the night he was shot dead by a masked bandit who rushed up with a gun, firing shots and stealing a book bag with cash and weed inside.

Fort was later arrested, but after multiple eyewitnesses had first suggested to the police that another man may have been the killer. Sketchy testimony of eyewitnesses may have factored into the jury’s decision.

Investigators learned of Fort’s alleged involvement in the attack only after a couple on the other side of Pendleton Homes later reported being accosted by Fort and forced at gunpoint to take him across town.

Prosecutors during the four-day trial implied that Fort, seen with a bag that may have been stolen from Butler, was making his getaway.

Fort was acquitted on nine of the 10 counts against him. He will be sentenced in coming days for the kidnapping conviction.

Malcor’s heartfelt plea to jurors in her closing argument apparently couldn’t sway them.

“Is this a community where people should just expect to have their stuff taken by a man with a gun in your face?” she asked.

“Or are we a community that will not tolerate this anymore? We will not tolerate men with guns taking our money, taking our belongings from us, anymore. And we don’t care … if you’re taking that from a bank manager at SunTrust or if you’re taking it (from) the guy working the midnight shift at the convenience store … or if you’re taking it from a father and a son who sells marijuana. We are not gonna take it anymore.”

Malcor had told jurors to “send a message that there are no more easy licks in Bibb County.”

Earlier, Fort’s attorney, Alan Wheeler, had told jurors in his closing remarks that the state’s witnesses were not credible and that prosecutors had failed to prove their case.

“You,” Wheeler said to the jury, “are the measurers of credibility.“

This story was originally published January 26, 2018 at 1:45 PM with the headline "Prosecutor to Macon murder jury: ‘Send a message!’ But accused killer found not guilty."