Trial begins for Macon man accused in robbery, brother's death

A Sandersville man heard footsteps behind him as he walked to his tractor-trailer parked near the Scottish Inn on Romeiser Drive shortly after 4 a.m. on Sept. 30, 2013..

Douglas Wayne Jackson Jr. had just left an alleged prostitute's room and saw two men with guns walking toward him. He told police they took his money and that one of the men demanded to know what he had in his truck, prosecutor Larissa Olliverre told jurors Monday.

At some point, Jackson reached into his pocket.

One of the men apparently thought he was reaching for a cell phone and demanded he hand it over, Olliverre said.

But it wasn't a phone.

Jackson pulled a small gun from his pocket and fired shots at both the men, fatally wounding 19-year-old Darius Washington, she said.

Washington's younger brother, Paul Washington Jr. who is now 19, is on trial for murder and armed robbery.

Georgia law allows a person to be charged with murder if someone dies during the commission of a felony.

Testimony in the case began Monday in Bibb County Superior Court.

In his opening statement to the jury, Washington's lawyer, Mark Beberman said Jackson was unable to pick the alleged second robber from a photo line-up that included his client's photo.

He said Darius Washington was "up to no good" that night, but that Paul Washington, then 17, wasn't involved in a robbery.

Olliverre told jurors that Paul Washington ran to the alleged prostitute's room after the shooting and later called the motel's front desk clerk reporting his brother had been shot near the motel's pool.

The clerk, Sheila Harris, testified Monday that a man -- Jackson -- came to the registration area's locked glass door and asked for the motel's address, saying he'd just shot someone and needed to call police.

The man was holding a gun down and to his side, she said.

Testimony in the case is set to continue Tuesday.

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 February 8, 2016 at 6:49 PM with the headline "Trial begins for Macon man accused in robbery, brother's death ."