Lawyer: Macon man accused of murder alleges slain man had been hired to kill him

A lawyer representing a Macon man accused of fatally shooting a Chicago man on Macon's east side Aug. 28 argued Thursday that his client acted in self defense and believes the Chicago man had been hired to kill him.

Raleigh Jackson, 27, is charged with murder in the death of 29-year-old Brandon Harris.

A judge denied bond for Jackson during a Thursday hearing in Bibb County Superior Court.

Jackson's lawyer, Bobby Bearden, told the judge his client was in the parking lot of Shark's Fish & Chicken Chicago Style on Jeffersonville Road when four people arrived in a car and started shooting.

He returned fire and was shot in the back while running to a next-door convenience store, Bearden said.

A bullet remains lodged near Jackson's spine, he said, arguing that the county may incur medical bills for Jackson's continued treatment if he remains in jail.

Jackson's girlfriend, who admits she only saw part of the incident, said she saw two people chasing Jackson as he ran, Bearden said.

Bearden said Jackson theorizes that Harris had been hired to kill him because people thought he owed money for drugs.

"Mr. Jackson doesn't know that. It's just a theory," he said.

Prosecutor Larissa Olliverre said surveillance footage seems to show Jackson lurking around a parked car outside the restaurant, preparing to ambush Harris and his brother as they sat in the vehicle.

Harris' brother told police he had noticed a man who had a gun in his hand outside the car and that Brandon Harris got out to investigate, Olliverre said.

The man started shooting when Brandon Harris got out, she said.

"The victim and his brother had been in Macon a total of four hours before the victim was shot dead," Olliverre said.

She said Harris and his brother had made the trip to attend a birthday party. They'd gone to Shark's with a friend to pick up dinner and stayed in the car while the friend went inside to get the food.

Police were called to a shooting outside the restaurant, but Jackson's girlfriend called them over to the nearby Red Roof Inn where she and Jackson were staying, Olliverre said.

Jackson, whose clothes were covered in blood, refused to say what happened. Then, the officers heard dispatchers say on their radios that a man -- Harris -- had shown up at a local hospital with gunshot wounds, she said.

Harris' father has said his son didn't have a gun.

Olliverre said Harris' friend identified Jackson in the surveillance video as being the person who shot Harris.

He has received death threats since the shooting and thinks Jackson is responsible for his house being damaged by gunfire in a drive-by shooting, she said.

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 November 12, 2015 at 6:32 PM with the headline "Lawyer: Macon man accused of murder alleges slain man had been hired to kill him ."