Bibb murder trial witness says killing was gang related

Late on a Friday afternoon -- well past 5 p.m. -- Jedarrius Treonta Meadows Jr. sat in a witness chair looking at the jurors who will soon determine his fate.

Meadows, 18, is charged with murder, armed robbery, aggravated assault and violating the state’s gang act.

He’s accused of fatally shooting Damian Bernard “Little Petey” Clayton, 16, at a Macon Little League ball park on Anthony Road across from Henderson Stadium.

Meadows testified he went to a carnival with Roland Rah’Saun Watson, 17, on the night Clayton died.

At some point, Watson disappeared. Later, the two left together, he said.

Meadows denied any involvement in the killing.

“I didn’t even know Petey,” Meadows said.

Watson, who was 15 at the time of his arrest, has pleaded guilty to armed robbery, aggravated assault and a gang charge as part of a plea agreement in the case.

Trayvon Starks, 18, also has pleaded guilty to armed robbery in a plea deal in the case.

Starks has testified he saw Meadows standing over Clayton shooting him.

Meadows said he and a group of friends called themselves Fu--Life. He denied the group is a gang.

They would “sit and smoke, drink” and throw parties, he said. Authorities have alleged Fu--Life is a criminal street gang that’s a rival to Macon’s 10-12 gang to which Clayton belonged.

Meadows said Fu--Life didn’t have a problem with 10-12 until after Clayton’s death. He’s had friends in 10-12 who have attended Fu--Life parties.

Earlier in the afternoon, jurors heard a recorded jail phone call placed by Meadows in March of last year in which he said he’d been in the “wrong d--n place at the wrong d--n time.”

Minutes earlier, they watched a video of Meadows’ Feb. 24, 2014, statement to police. When questioned by investigators, he denied involvement in the killing and said he’d been with Watson at a carnival.

Sgt. Cedric Penson, a sheriff’s office gang investigator, identified Meadows in photos posted on Twitter. Two showed Meadows making a gang sign with his hand -- “shooting a bird” while making an L with his thumb and middle finger.

Penson testified Meadows is a member of the Fu--Life gang, a group of about eight to 10 people based in the Bloomfield community whose focus is on throwing parties.

Clayton belonged to the 10-12 gang which changed its name to the “Petey Fam” after Clayton’s death. The 10-12 gang is comprised of 50 or more members and is based in the Unionville community, Penson said.

Fu--Life and 10-12 members are rivals, he testified.

Killing Clayton would have increased both Meadows’ status in Fu--Life and Fu--Life’s status as a gang in Macon, Penson said.

He also said Clayton was set to testify in the murder trial for a Crips gang member from Bloomfield and the shooting was intended to prevent him from testifying.

Closing arguments and jury deliberations are scheduled for Saturday.

The trial began Tuesday in Bibb County Superior Court.

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 11, 2015 at 9:20 PM with the headline "Bibb murder trial witness says killing was gang related ."