Shooter in Wings Cafe killings sentenced to 30 years

A fourth man charged in the 2014 fatal shootout at Macon’s Wings Cafe nightclub pleaded guilty Monday and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Markques Patterson, 31, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and violating the state’s Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act. Initially charged with murder, he could have faced life without parole if he’d been convicted at trial.

As many as five other men are set to stand trial Aug. 15. Two of the men also face federal charges.

Prosecutors allege that members of the Blacc Team street gang, a division of the larger Gangster Disciples, traveled to the Bloomfield Drive nightclub Dec. 12, 2014, and gathered together before going into the known Crips gang hangout. Surveillance footage shows the men as they went inside.

One alleged member of the group, Emmanuel McGhee, 29, flicked a cigarette in a man’s face, sparking a fight.

Shots were fired, and people threw punches, bottles and chairs.

Corey Hollingshed, 25, George Henley, 34, and Derrick Jackson, 38, were fatally shot. A woman was shot four times, but she survived.

Patterson’s lawyer, Kevin Bradley, said his client took the plea deal because it was in his best interest. He said he disputes some of the contentions in the prosecution’s version of what happened at the club.

“He regrets what happened that night,” Bradley said.

Patterson, one of three alleged shooters, also was injured in the gunfire.

Bradley said Patterson was an inch away from being “a body on the ground that night.”

Patterson “grew up in a certain area of our community and there are things one must do sometimes to survive in the community one finds oneself in,” Bradley said. “He did some things he had to do to survive in the community he lived in.”

In sentencing Patterson, Superior Court Judge Howard Simms said he disagreed with Bradley’s argument, saying, “This didn’t have to happen.”

Prosecutor Sandra Matson said Hollingshed was killed by gunfire from a .45-caliber handgun fired by Patterson.

A member of Gangster Disciples, Patterson also was involved in at least two prior instances of gang violence and had been shot in one of them, she said.

As part of his plea agreement, Patterson must testify at the trial for the remaining men charged in the case.

McGhee also struck a bargain with prosecutors and took a best interest plea July 8, pleading guilty to aggravated assault and violating the state’s gang act. He was sentenced to 20 years, eight of them in prison.

Shavious Antwan Balkcom, 27, pleaded guilty June 30 to violating the gang act and two misdemeanor simple assault charges.

Balkcom, who threw a glass bottle and chair toward a rival gang member in the fight, will remain in jail until July 14, 2017, and serve 15 years on probation with special gang conditions.

In April, Brinton Clinton Williams, 31, of Warner Robins pleaded guilty to violating the state’s gang act and two counts of being party to the crime of simple assault, a misdemeanor.

As part of his plea deal, Williams will be released from custody after he testifies at the trial for the remaining men charged in the case. He also must serve 15 years on probation.

Of the men who have pleaded guilty, McGhee is the only one whose agreement doesn’t include his testifying.

This story was originally published July 18, 2016 at 10:27 AM with the headline "Shooter in Wings Cafe killings sentenced to 30 years."