Trial begins in Monroe County double slaying

FORSYTH — After seeing his brother-in-law shot dead, James Pittman Wood fought for his life.

He wrestled with Jordan Keaugh Maxwell on the living room floor in the house where he lived with his parents and brother. Getting the best of Maxwell, Wood was able to eject the magazine from Maxwell’s gun, making it inoperable.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys agree that Marquez Deshawn Martin stopped the fight early on the morning of May 7, 2013, by pointing another gun at Wood.

Maxwell then reassembled his gun and fatally shot Wood, Monroe County Assistant District Attorney Lauren Deal told jurors Monday at the beginning of Martin’s murder trial.

She alleged that the 21-year-old Martin was an “instrumental party” in the slaying of the 40-year-old Wood and 36-year-old Russell Jacobs. Maxwell, 21, has pleaded guilty to being the man who pulled the trigger, killing both men, and he is serving two life sentences.

Martin faces four counts of murder, a count of armed robbery, a count of aggravated assault, conspiracy to commit armed robbery,  and three counts of violating the state’s gang act.

Authorities have said Martin, Maxwell, 18-year-old Sameeria R. Carter and 20-year-old Dave’von Sapp — the four people charged with killing Wood and Jacobs — have ties to Macon’s Money Over Everything street gang.

The gang has been implicated in a 2013 Bibb County crime spree that included the carjacking and shooting of a taxi driver, a mugging, and ramming a truck into a pawnshop where guns were then stolen.

Zachary North, one of Martin’s lawyers, told jurors that Martin was in his car outside Wood’s home when he heard two gunshots inside the house.

After seeing Carter and Sapp run out, Martin became concerned about Maxwell and went inside, armed with his own gun, to look for Maxwell, North said.

That’s when he saw Wood and Maxwell struggling for the gun and stopped the fight.

“Maxwell did something that Marquez didn’t anticipate,” North told jurors.

He told Martin to kill Wood, North said.

“Marquez said ‘no’,” he said, and Maxwell shot Wood.

With both men dead, North contends that Maxwell told Martin, Carter and Sapp to gather valuables from the house, North said.

North cautioned jurors not to believe testimony from Carter and Sapp. Along with having plea deals with the prosecution, both of them have told inconsistent versions of what happened, he said.

NIGHT ON THE TOWN

Having recently come into some money, Wood took Jacobs, his brother-in-law, out on a night on the town, Deal said.

They went out to dinner and had some drinks.

Jacobs’ wife — Wood’s sister — asked that they return her car, the one they’d been traveling in, at some point during the night. They retrieved a truck from Wood’s home and were headed toward Macon when it broke down, Deal said.

They walked to a Marathon gas station on Riverside Drive near the Bibb-Monroe County line.

That same evening, Martin, Maxwell, Carter and Sapp got into a car looking for someone to rob or a place to break in, Sapp testified Monday afternoon.

Martin drove the group to a motel in the Bloomfield area of south Macon, where Sapp admits he and Maxwell donned masks and robbed a man at gunpoint as he smoked a cigarette outside his motel room. Then they robbed other people inside the motel room, Sapp testified.

After rejoining Martin and Carter in the car, the four drove on “trying to make more money,” he said.

They stopped at a closed gas station about 1 a.m., and all four got out of the car to break into refrigerator cases and other locked outdoor displays, Sapp said.

The group spent about 10 minutes loading their loot — drinks, chips, candy, and other snacks — into Martin’s car, he said.

Martin then drive the car toward north Macon where the group looked for another mark, Sapp said.

That’s when they spotted two men walking in the grass along the road near a gas station. They hatched a plan to send Carter in the store to determine if the men — Wood and Jacobs — were using cash or credit cards.

Carter went into the store and found that the men were using cash. After learning that Woods and Jacobs needed a ride, Martin allowed them in the car.

Using directions from Wood, the group drove to Wood’s home on Woods Drive in south Monroe County.

Sapp said he and his friends were invited into the house.

At some point, Maxwell shot Jacobs and told Wood to get on the ground, he said.

Wood “rushed” Maxwell, and they tussled for Maxwell’s gun, Sapp said.

Sapp said he ran out but was in the room when Martin aimed a gun at Wood, telling him to let Maxwell go.

After being released, Maxwell straightened the do-rag on his head and told Martin to “kill” Wood, he said.

Martin refused.

Then Maxwell “shot the guy,” Sapp said.

After taking several items from the house — a TV, cellphones, a DVD player and other items — everyone got back in the car.

He said he heard Maxwell remark in the car that he wasn’t sure the men inside were dead, and Maxwell asked Sapp, Carter and Martin if they’d go in and shoot the men again to be sure.

Each refused, but Sapp eventually relented.

“I was like, all right. I walked up to the first guy ... and I shot him. I walked to the skinny guy ... and I shot him,” Sapp said.

To contact writer Amy Leigh Womack, call 744-4398 or find her on Twitter @awomackmacon.

This story was originally published August 31, 2015 at 5:56 PM with the headline "Trial begins in Monroe County double slaying ."