Prosecutor: Ball field became ‘killing field’ for 16-year-old Macon boy

Damian Bernard “Little Petey” Clayton was the intended target of a Nov. 21, 2013, shooting that instead killed 16-year-old Alyssa Zari Jackson.

Months later, Clayton, also 16, was slated to testify in the trial for Jackson’s killer, Dontavius “Man Man” Mintz.

While walking with two other young men Feb. 22, 2014, Clayton and Trayvon Starks split off from the other two and headed toward the Macon Little League ball park on Anthony Road.

Before the night was over, Clayton would be shot five times.

The ball field became a “killing field” where Clayton was lured to buy marijuana, robbed and “executed” prosecutor John Regan told jurors Wednesday during the trial for a man accused in Clayton’s slaying.

Jedarrius Treonta Meadows Jr., 18, is charged with murder, armed robbery, aggravated assault and violating the state’s gang act. Testimony in his trial began Wednesday in Bibb County Superior Court.

Clayton was killed to prevent him from testifying in Mintz’s case and was a member of a rival gang, Regan said.

He also was robbed.

In his opening statement, Jay Davis, a lawyer representing Meadows, placed the blame for the killing on 17-year-old Roland Watson and Starks, 18.

Both were initially charged with murder in the case, but they’ve accepted plea bargains.

Davis said the evidence will show Meadows and Watson were together at a carnival on the night Clayton was shot.

Davis maintained there’s no evidence Meadows was at the ball field.

GANG TIES

Aubrey Williams, a Bibb County jail inmate awaiting trial in a separate shooting case, testified Wednesday about the rival 10-12 and Fu--Life gangs.

He admitted he is a 10-12 member and Clayton also was a member.

He denied receiving anything in return for his testimony and said he was “just doing it for my homeboy,” Clayton said.

Williams testified that the 10-12, a group composed of members of multiple other gangs is rooted in Macon’s west side.

Authorities have alleged Meadows and Watson were members of Fu--Life, a gang Williams said is based in Macon’s Bloomfield community and also includes members of multiple gangs.

The beef between the two groups concerns territory, which side of town members live on, Williams said.

“It’s really about where you’re from,” he said.

Williams testified Clayton and Mintz, 18, had fought multiple times at teen parties before the 2013 shooting.

After Jackson was killed and Clayton planned to testify in Mintz’s trial, members of the Fu--Life didn’t want Clayton to testify, he said.

Mintz, an alleged Crips member who lived in the Bloomfield area, pleaded guilty to murder in Jackson’s killing June 29, more than a year after Clayton was killed.

‘YOU COULD SAY IT WAS OVERKILL’

Joslyn Dillard, Clayton’s sister, testified Wednesday that she gave him $800 cash at some point during the 16-year-old’s last day.

The money was missing when Clayton was found shot at the ball field.

Dr. Maryanne Gaffney-Kraft, the GBI medical examiner who performed Clayton’s autopsy, testified Clayton was shot five times, was grazed on the face by another bullet and injured by a bullet fragment that passed through his ear.

Two sizes of bullets were recovered from Clayton’s body, she said.

Meadows subtly shook his head left and right, peering at autopsy photos as Davis reviewed them during Gaffney-Kraft’s testimony.

She testified one of the shots punctured both Clayton’s lungs, heart and pulmonary artery.

Another entered his cheek, passed through his neck and lodged in his spinal chord. A shot to his forehead left a bullet in Clayton’s brain, Gaffney-Kraft said.

He was shot in the arm, and a bullet passed through two of his fingers before grazing a thumb, she said.

“You could say it was overkill,” Gaffney-Kraft said.

SHOTS FIRED

James Allen, a friend of Clayton’s, testified he was walking with Clayton and Starks on the night Clayton was shot.

They’d all been at a store on the corner of Mercer University Drive and Anthony Road.

After leaving the store, Starks and Clayton split off from the group and headed toward the Little League ball field, he said.

Allen and the other man had turned off and walked through the Henderson Stadium parking lot across the street. At some point, he heard gunshots and ran to the Little League field where he saw Clayton had been shot, Allen testified.

Clayton was unresponsive.

Allen said he called the police and left.

Starks admitted in his testimony Wednesday that he was at the ball field with Clayton, Meadows and Watson. He also admitted being a member of the Crips gang.

When asked to identify Meadows in the courtroom, he pointed to the defense table without looking in that direction.

He looked straight ahead or at the ceiling for much, if not all his testimony.

Starks said he’d talked with Watson about a plan to rob Clayton and that Meadows was also a part of the plan.

Entering the ball field with Clayton, Starks said he saw Meadows and Watson with guns.

At some point, Meadows was standing over Clayton shooting him, Starks testified.

He said he also saw Meadows rifling through Clayton’s pockets.

Starks, who has pleaded guilty to armed robbery, said he was scared during the shooting and that he called 911 afterward.

When questioned by Meadows’ lawyer, he admitted telling multiple versions of what happened.

He denied knowing that Clayton was planning to testify in Mintz’s trial.

He also denied having a gun.

Starks testimony is expected to continue Thursday.

Information from Telegraph archives was used in this report. To contact writer Amy Leigh Womack, call 744-4398 or find her on Twitter@awomackmacon.

This story was originally published September 9, 2015 at 10:37 PM with the headline "Prosecutor: Ball field became ‘killing field’ for 16-year-old Macon boy ."