The final three defendants in the 2022 Hazlehurst Gang shooting that took a teenager's life have been convicted and sentenced to prison for their involvement in the crime.
District Attorney Keith Higgins of the Brunswick Judicial Circuit was the one who announced that the last remaining defendant in the shooting of 18-year-old Malik McRae and Camron Kornegay, Kiyon Dotson, was convicted.
Defendants in Gang Shooting Convicted and Sentenced
The development came after a jury trial that sentenced the defendant to 50 years of imprisonment, 35 years of which were to be served in prison and the remainder on probation. The jury found Dotson guilty on two counts of aggravated assault and four counts of violating the Georgia Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act.
The defendant's conviction follows guilty pleas from his co-defendants Ahmad Clements and Cameron James, who were both 16 years old at the time of the shooting. The latter two entered plea agreements shortly before jury selection for the trial started, according to WTOC.
Clemented pleaded guilty to two counts of violating the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act and was handed a 10-year prison sentence. On the other hand, James pled guilty to two counts of aggravated assault and four counts of Street Gang Act violations, for which he was sentenced to 40 years, 20 years of which will be served in jail and the other 20 years on probation.
Read more: Georgia Teenager Charged With Murder for Fatal Shooting of Mother and Stepfather document
All of the sentences against the defendants in the case were handed down by Judge Roger B. Lane. The latest convictions mark the end of a tragic case that has deeply shaken the local community.
Before the final three defendants' convictions, there were others who were found guilty of being involved in the crime. These include 20-year-old Daimin Smith and 19-year-old Hermon Rountree of Hazlehurst, Georgia, AOL reported.
Shooting of 2 Teenagers
The two individuals were found guilty on two counts of aggravated assault, two counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and five counts of violation of the Street Gang and Terrorism Prevention Act.
The district attorney's office said that the jury in the case acquitted both defendants of one count of violation of the Street Gang and Terrorism Prevention Act. An investigation into the case previously found that Smith, helped by Rountree, Clements, and James, fatally shot McRae and injured Kornegay.
Shortly after they were arrested, Smith, Rountree, and Clements were held at the Jeff Davis County Jail. On the other hand, James was kept in custody in Brevard County, Florida, while he waited for extradition, as per ABC4 News.
