‘A friend into a killer.’ Bibb County jury to decide verdict in 2018 murder case
A Macon jury began deliberations Thursday afternoon in a murder case regarding “a man whose life was cut short by the deadly grip of another person’s debt,” Assistant District Attorney Tony May said in closing arguments.
After roughly two weeks, the trial against Raymond Leverett concluded Jan. 22 . Judge Connie Williford ordered the jury panel to deliberate whether Leverett is guilty of murder, aggravated assault and armed robbery charges in John “J3” Fleming’s death in September 2018.
Fleming was initially considered a missing person, but investigators later confirmed his death after finding his car with blood splatters and gun shell casings. Skull and bone fragments also were found nearby. Cell phone records placed Leverett near the scene, investigators and prosecutors have said.
If jurors find Leverett guilty, he could face life in prison.
Timeline explained by prosecutor, defense attorney
The day Fleming disappeared, he was accompanied by his partner as they took out $600 from their bank account to pay some of their bills. She was later dropped off at a hair salon and expected Fleming to pick her up after her appointment, according to prosecutor’s closing statements.
However, Fleming picked up Leverett for a follow-up doctor’s appointment for a rattlesnake bite. C. Alan Wheeler, Leverett’s attorney, said in his closing statement that Fleming never returned to pick Leverett up from the hospital, and the two never saw each other again.
Prosecutors, however, allege Leverett lured Fleming to the Riggins Mill and Weaver roads area, near the Macon airport. Cell phone records showed the two men were there, and Leverett eventually left the scene but Fleming’s phone stopped working. Investigators later found Fleming’s skull and three bones at the location.
“We have a skull, and we have three other bones,” said Assistant District Attorney Jeremy Johnson. “We don’t have a rib cage, we don’t have a spine, we don’t have a throat… none of that. We don’t know what happened to the rest of his spine (to) this day.”
Days after Fleming disappeared, Leverett returned to the scene, stole Fleming’s PlayStation 4 and attempted to pawn it off in Warner Robins, according to the attorney’s closing statements. He was charged with theft by deception and pleaded guilty in Houston County Superior Court.
Wheeler said Leverett never went to the crime scene and didn’t commit the murder. Based on forensic reports referenced during closing statements, Fleming’s skull had a gunshot wound on the left side of his head. There was a pool of blood in Fleming’s car, but Leverett “showed absolutely no evidence whatsoever on his body that he had any blood,” Wheeler said .
‘A friend turned into a killer.’
Prior to Fleming’s death, there had been hard feelings between the two men related to a Chevy car that Fleming purchased to flip and sell, prosecutors said.
Fleming reportedly lent the car to Leverett to complete the repairs, and he had it in his possession for about five months, attorneys said Thursday.
Fleming bought a motor from Leverett, but it was “rusted out,” May said. Fleming was unhappy that “the defendant was eating into his money, eating into his profit,” he said.
“He’s got a problem with John because of this debt,” May said. “John’s not going to let him out of the debt. The debt is going to continue to be a problem for the foreseeable future. And that day is a day of accountability with regard to that car. It’s all coming to a head that day.
“And that’s the day John Fleming disappears, and that is what turned a friend into a killer, erasing J3’s life so he could erase the obligations.”
