August trial date set in Wings Cafe killing case, bond denied for two suspects
An August trial date has been set for the nine men charged in the 2014 shootout at Macon's Wings Cafe that resulted in three deaths.
Two of the men charged -- Markques Patterson and Derek Taylor -- appeared in Bibb County Superior Court Thursday asking for bond. The judge denied both requests.
Authorities said gunfire erupted at the Bloomfield Drive nightclub during a confrontation between the Blacc Team and Crips street gangs on Dec. 12, 2014.
Corey Hollingshed, 25, George Henley, 34, and Derrick Jackson, 38, were fatally shot. A woman was shot four times, but she survived.
During Thursday's hearing, prosecutor Sandra Matson said the two groups have had run-ins for years.
A gun from the Wings case has been linked to a 2012 shooting involving the gangs, she said.
Matson said surveillance video from the nightclub showed Patterson shooting a gun.
Video also showed Taylor throwing a bottle and holding what prosecutors contend was a gun as he ran outside.
Matson said authorities can link a gun found outside the nearby CVS to Taylor.
Taylor, 29, wasn't inside at the time of the shooting and is charged with several counts of aggravated assault and violations of the state's gang act, not murder, she said.
Matson also alleged that Taylor has tried to intimidate a witness.
Lawyers for both men said their clients deny allegations that they're members of the Blacc Team street gang.
Kevin Bradley, Patterson's lawyer, said any actions his client took were in self-defense.
Patterson, 30, was shot in the melee. He is charged with several counts of murder, aggravated assault and violations of the state's gang act.
He said there's no evidence Patterson has intimidated witnesses and he doesn't have a felony criminal record.
Dennis Duncan, Taylor's lawyer, said his client "indiscriminately" threw the bottle before leaving, when "he saw that the situation was deteriorating."
Duncan contends phone records will prove that the object -- which prosecutors contend was a gun -- actually was a cell phone.
He denied allegations his client intimidated a witness.
Although Duncan argued Taylor doesn't have a prior criminal record, Matson said Taylor has pleaded guilty in Bibb County State Court to reckless conduct stemming from a March 2015 incident in which he fired a gun from a car.
He also has shoplifting and marijuana-related conversations, she said.
A trial in the case had been set for October 2015, but was postponed after the lawyer for another of the men charged in the case rescinded a speedy trial demand that had been driving the case forward.
The men charged in the case have a May 16 deadline to accept any plea bargains offered by prosecutors, according to a scheduling order in the case.
Pretrial motions are set to be heard June 13.
The trial is set to begin Aug. 15.
To contact writer Amy Leigh Womack, call 744-4398 or find her on Twitter @awomackmacon.
This story was originally published March 24, 2016 at 6:18 PM with the headline "August trial date set in Wings Cafe killing case, bond denied for two suspects ."