A woman who protested for weeks outside the south Atlanta Wendy’s where Rayshard Brooks was killed by police said activists were in talks with city officials to create a “peace memorial” at the site of the burned-down fast food restaurant.
The media was asked not to disclose the identity of the witness, who was the only person called by the defense to testify in the murder trial.
Julian Conley, 25, is accused of firing the fatal shot that killed 8-year-old Secoriea Turner more than five years ago as she rode through an “autonomous zone” manned by protesters and, according to prosecutors, armed gang members at the intersection of Pryor Road and University Avenue.
“We were gonna turn the Wendy’s into a peace center,” the woman said on the stand. “We had been talking to the City Council members who had been coming down there, and they were going to actually turn it into a peace center where you could come get resources.”
She said in the weeks leading up to the little girl’s July 4, 2020, killing, activists had been passing out food at the site and giving away clothes. Portable toilets had already been set up, she said, and they were in the process of having a shower brought in.
She said the people who opened fire on the Jeep in which the 8-year-old was riding had been dressed all in black and that she had never seen them before.
Detectives say Conley wore a red shirt, blue jeans and carried an AR-15, and that he acknowledged as much in a news conference he and his lawyer held days after the shooting.
Jurors have seen footage of the deadly shooting, which appeared to happen immediately after the Jeep drove onto a curb to get around the makeshift barricade.
Atlanta police detective Jarion Shephard told jurors this week that he is “110% sure” it was Conley who fired the shots that killed the rising third grader.
“That’s when you see him pretty much shoot the car as it’s passing and fire two more rounds as the vehicle’s driving away,” the lead investigator said, pointing out what he said showed the “muzzle flash” from Conley’s rifle.
Shephard said Conley was also seen pointing his AR-15 at other vehicles, including an Atlanta couple that had been turned around at the checkpoint moments before the shooting. Jurors have been shown surveillance footage from a nearby gas station, a package store and the back of a warehouse, which offered the best vantage point of the shooting.
Authorities allege Conley was part of a Bloods-affiliated gang that took over the intersection leading up to the shooting. Atlanta police officers were instructed not to enter the scene at night over fears that confronting the armed activists could lead to additional violence in a city already racked by civil unrest following the deaths of George Floyd and Rayshard Brooks, detectives testified.
Credit: abbey.cutrer@ajc.com
Credit: abbey.cutrer@ajc.com
No murder weapon was ever recovered, but authorities say even if Conley hadn’t fired a single round, he could still be convicted of felony murder based on the fact that he was allegedly party to the crime that night. Shephard said based on the footage shown in court, it appeared Conley was running things at the roadblock.
“Julian Conley is giving directions to the other males,” Shephard said. “Just from his mannerisms, it appeared (that) he was more in control of the barricades, the blockade.”
Secoriea Turner’s parents have filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the city of Atlanta, Wendy’s International and several former city officials, claiming they allowed the barricade to remain in place for weeks despite the danger. The lawsuit, which is still pending, specifically names former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, former City Councilwoman Joyce Sheperd, and former interim police Chief Rodney Bryant, the AJC reported previously.
Credit: JOHN SPINK / AJC
Credit: JOHN SPINK / AJC
The jury tasked with deciding Conley’s fate is expected to begin deliberations Thursday after closing arguments.
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