After grand jury, evidence issues, Macon murder case goes to trial again.
Attorneys argued Tuesday that two murder suspects from Macon shot a man in self-defense.
A jury will be asked to decide whether that is true.
Jaylen Smith and Jordan Mullis are accused of killing Montaveous Raines Jr. near a church in the 700 block of Greentree Parkway in the Lake Wildwood subdivision in November 2021. Both are charged with one count of malice murder and one count of felony murder. The 14 jurors selected for the proceeding should determine at the end of the week whether Smith and Mullis were justified in shooting Raines, which prosecutors contend they’re not.
Kyle Owenby, prosecutor for the Macon Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office, encouraged the jurors to “weigh the credibility of statements and observations and comments and evidence,” which will be provided by him, Sarah Riedel, attorney for Mullis, and Bobby Bearden, the attorney for Smith. The suspects’ attorneys argue that they shot Raines in self-defense after he had allegedly run up to the car where the suspects were sitting, wearing all-black and brandishing a gun, according to court testimony.
This is the third time the case has headed to a trial in front of Judge Jeffery Monroe. The first time, the attorneys were frustrated with lost evidence and a lack of the grand jurors needed to indict Smith and Mullis, which led to the case’s dismissal. The first case also charged Mia Hawkins with malice murder, felony murder and making false statements, but she accepted a plea deal that would have her serve 10 years in prison for voluntary manslaughter, according to court records.
“I suspect that Riegel and Bearden will tell you (at the end of the trial)... that the state hasn’t kept its promise, that we failed to meet our burden,” Owenby said. “An indictment, the charging documents by which the state brings accusations against people, is a promise, and what I’m telling you is the state is here to keep this promise... and meet the elements in each count.”
What attorneys say happened
Mullis, an alleged drug dealer in Macon, had given $100 worth of marijuana Hawkins, but she did not pay him for it, according to Owenby. She was someone who liked to “try and rob drug dealers,” considering they’re not the type of victims that would call police, Owenby said. But, five days after the sale, on Nov. 19, 2021, Hawkins had reached out to Mullis, stating that she had the money for the exchange and that they should meet.
Smith was accompanying Mullis, as they are close friends, according to Riedel. They were at Chick-fil-A when they received the text from Hawkins, which led Mullis to tell her to come to the restaurant to pay him for the marijuana. Though both Smith and Mullis were trying to set up the meeting spot to be in a lighted place, Hawkins was able to convince the suspects to meet at the abandoned church in Lake Wildwood, according to Riedel. Hawkins had brought Raines — who was armed with a rifle — to the church as well, Riedel said.
Mullis and Smith parked behind Hawkins. She told them to sit in the backseat of her car and wait for the money, to which both of them agreed. But Raines comes out from the dark, wearing all-black, including the mask over his face, pointing the rifle toward the two men. Smith shot through the windshield, Reidel said, as Mullis fell back on the backseat of the car, pulled out his pistol and fired three times toward Raines.
Owenby claimed that, based on ballistic reports, there were 11 projectiles and two guns identified at the scene. Raines’ body was left at the church, where he died.
“The person that is responsible for Montaveous Raines’ death is Montaveous Raines and Mia Hawkins,” Riedel told the jurors Tuesday.
The trial is expected to last until Friday.
This story was originally published August 12, 2025 at 5:28 PM.
CORRECTION: This is the third time this case has gone to trial after two prior case dismissals. This information was incorrect in a previous version of this story.
