Two charged in Macon’s Wings Cafe killings included in federal indictment

Two men charged in the Dec. 12, 2014, fatal shooting at Macon’s Wings Cafe now face federal racketeering charges in a case involving 32 alleged members of the Gangster Disciples street gang.

The indictment, unsealed Wednesday, alleges gang members committed 10 murders, 12 attempted murders, two robberies and fraud resulting in losses of more than $450,000.

They also are accused of extorting rap artists, forcing them to become affiliated with the gang and trafficking in large amounts of heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, illegal prescription drugs and marijuana, according to a Department of Justice news release.

The indictment also includes allegations relating to Macon’s Wings Cafe case, alleging Vertuice Wall and Derek Taylor — who already are charged in Bibb County’s murder case — gathered with other Gangster Disciples members outside the Bloomfield Drive nightspot known to be frequented by their rival Crips gang members.

Wall, 40, of Marietta, is alleged to be a “first coordinator” for the Macon Gangster Disciples group, according to the news release.

Prior to entering the club, Taylor — a 29-year-old Macon man who provided security for Wall — took Wall’s gun, according to the indictment.

While inside, Wall, Taylor and others provoked a fight with a Crips gang member that resulted in the deaths of George Henley, 34, Derrick Jackson, 38, and alleged Crips gang member Corey Hollingshed, 25. A woman was shot four times, but she survived.

The indictment alleges 30-year-old Markques Patterson — who isn’t a named defendant in the federal case — fired the shot that killed Hollingshed.

The next day, Dec. 13, 2014, Wall told another Gangsters Disciple member to arrange for a false police report to be made, saying Wall’s .357-caliber handgun had been stolen before the shooting, according to the indictment.

A ‘highly structured organization’

The Gangster Disciples began in Chicago in the 1970s as a merger of two other Chicago-based gangs, the Black Disciples and the Supreme Gangsters, according to the indictment.

Authorities allege the gang is active in 24 states, employing a “highly structured organization,” maintaining a hierarchical structure “on the belief that the enterprise will be ready to step in and run the United States should its government fail,” according to the charging document.

Among the members of the hierarchy are chief enforcers who command enforcement teams.

Some divisions of the gang name their enforcement teams using monikers such as Blacc Team. The federal indictment alleges Wall led the Blacc Team enforcement group.

The men charged in the Wings Cafe case are charged with violating Georgia’s Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act through association with Blacc Team, according to Bibb County Superior Court records.

The alleged beginning of the Gangster Disciples’ “racketeering conspiracy” is unknown, but authorities believe it to be no later than 2009.

To generate income, defendants in the federal case allegedly agreed to distribute and attempted to distribute drugs, committed robbery, carjacking, extortion, arson, check and bank fraud, wire fraud, insurance fraud, credit card fraud, prostitution and other crimes, according to the indictment.

Among the members charged in the federal case are several high-ranking gang members, some who controlled gang activities in multiple states. Others include the gang’s national treasurer as well as the group’s chief enforcer and chief of security in Georgia.

Vancito Gumbs, a 25-year-old member who worked as a DeKalb County police officer, also is charged in the case, accused of acting as a “hitman” and killing people for the gang, according to the indictment.

The Macon trial for Wall, Taylor and six other charged in the Wings Cafe killings is set for Aug. 15.

Brinton Clinton Williams, 31, of Warner Robins, pleaded guilty Friday to violating the state’s gang act and two misdemeanor charges. He’s set to testify at the trial as part of his plea agreement.

This story was originally published May 4, 2016 at 5:27 PM with the headline "Two charged in Macon’s Wings Cafe killings included in federal indictment."