Note to Murder Defendants-- Spit out the Gum- From the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Gang member pleads guilty to murder
Man calls 2 nonfatal shootings ‘bad decision,’ says he ‘can’t explain’ killing
BY JOHN LYNCH ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
A gum-chewing Little Rock gang member who shot two men in a gas station parking lot called the September shootings a "bad decision" Tuesday, but couldn’t explain why he killed a third man five days later. Prosecutors said the shootings point to escalating gang violence in southwest Little Rock.
Marcus Mosely, 25, pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree battery and a single first-degree murder charge as jury selection began Tuesday morning in Pulaski County Circuit Court. His decision came after a 30-minute meeting with his parents and defense attorneys.
Prosecutors agreed to drop enhancements to the charges and withdrew an effort to revoke his probation regarding 2002 convictions for terroristic threatening. At the recommendation of Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Barbara Mariani, Mosely got 20 years on each of the battery counts to be served concurrently. He faced at least 10 years in prison and as much as 60 years to life on the murder charge.
"Bad decision" was Mosely’s only response when Circuit Judge Marion Humphrey twice asked him why he shot Marcus Wright, 23, and James Hill, 24, during a Sept. 20 altercation at the Shell Superstop at 1400 John Barrow Road.
Mosely, who chewed gum during the hearing, also couldn’t tell the judge why he shot and killed 24-year-old Wilmon Simmons five days later outside the Dirty Byrd Cafe at 1700 Wright Ave. just before 4 a.m.
Humphrey pressed Mosely, a Blood gang member, for an explanation of the killing after hearing the prosecutor describe how Mosely walked up to Simmons, a friend of Wright’s, and pumped three rounds into him as he talked to some people in a parked car.
"I can’t explain," said Mosely, bowing his head. "I just can’t explain, sir."
The shootings of Wright and Hill came during a heated argument over a woman between Wright and 28-year-old Douglas Lee Bennett at the Shell station, Mariani told the judge. As Wright cursed at Bennett, Mosely pulled out a pistol and opened fire. The bullets wounded Hill, who was seated nearby. Wright fled and was shot near a foot, Mariani said. He then ran to the Church’s Chicken a block south on John Barrow where Mosely shot him in the hand as Wright used a telephone to call for help.
Mariani and Marianne Satterfield, a senior deputy prosecuting attorney, speculated afterward on a motive for Simmons’ killing: a case of mistaken identity. Mariani said Mosely just walked up to Simmons and opened fire without saying a word, wounding him in both legs, with a fatal shot to the chest.
"Our theory is he had mistaken him for Wright," a member of the rival Folks gang, the prosecutor said. "We can’t prove that, but that’s [the way] it appears from the evidence."
Satterfield said the shootings showed that gang violence is growing in southwest Little Rock. She noted Bennett would have been Mosely’s co-defendant in the Sept. 20 shootings, but he was found shot to death Nov. 29 in the parking lot of Boyle Park in a slaying prosecutors said Tuesday was gang and drug related.
A passer-by discovered Bennett’s body lying next to a 1992 Chevrolet Caprice with its engine running in the parking lot of the park’s basketball court. Several shell casings lay scattered around the car, and a loaded .45-caliber gun was found under the driver’s seat. No one has been charged in the killing.
This story was published Wednesday, July 20, 2005
Copyright © 2005, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc.
Man calls 2 nonfatal shootings ‘bad decision,’ says he ‘can’t explain’ killing
BY JOHN LYNCH ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
A gum-chewing Little Rock gang member who shot two men in a gas station parking lot called the September shootings a "bad decision" Tuesday, but couldn’t explain why he killed a third man five days later. Prosecutors said the shootings point to escalating gang violence in southwest Little Rock.
Marcus Mosely, 25, pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree battery and a single first-degree murder charge as jury selection began Tuesday morning in Pulaski County Circuit Court. His decision came after a 30-minute meeting with his parents and defense attorneys.
Prosecutors agreed to drop enhancements to the charges and withdrew an effort to revoke his probation regarding 2002 convictions for terroristic threatening. At the recommendation of Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Barbara Mariani, Mosely got 20 years on each of the battery counts to be served concurrently. He faced at least 10 years in prison and as much as 60 years to life on the murder charge.
"Bad decision" was Mosely’s only response when Circuit Judge Marion Humphrey twice asked him why he shot Marcus Wright, 23, and James Hill, 24, during a Sept. 20 altercation at the Shell Superstop at 1400 John Barrow Road.
Mosely, who chewed gum during the hearing, also couldn’t tell the judge why he shot and killed 24-year-old Wilmon Simmons five days later outside the Dirty Byrd Cafe at 1700 Wright Ave. just before 4 a.m.
Humphrey pressed Mosely, a Blood gang member, for an explanation of the killing after hearing the prosecutor describe how Mosely walked up to Simmons, a friend of Wright’s, and pumped three rounds into him as he talked to some people in a parked car.
"I can’t explain," said Mosely, bowing his head. "I just can’t explain, sir."
The shootings of Wright and Hill came during a heated argument over a woman between Wright and 28-year-old Douglas Lee Bennett at the Shell station, Mariani told the judge. As Wright cursed at Bennett, Mosely pulled out a pistol and opened fire. The bullets wounded Hill, who was seated nearby. Wright fled and was shot near a foot, Mariani said. He then ran to the Church’s Chicken a block south on John Barrow where Mosely shot him in the hand as Wright used a telephone to call for help.
Mariani and Marianne Satterfield, a senior deputy prosecuting attorney, speculated afterward on a motive for Simmons’ killing: a case of mistaken identity. Mariani said Mosely just walked up to Simmons and opened fire without saying a word, wounding him in both legs, with a fatal shot to the chest.
"Our theory is he had mistaken him for Wright," a member of the rival Folks gang, the prosecutor said. "We can’t prove that, but that’s [the way] it appears from the evidence."
Satterfield said the shootings showed that gang violence is growing in southwest Little Rock. She noted Bennett would have been Mosely’s co-defendant in the Sept. 20 shootings, but he was found shot to death Nov. 29 in the parking lot of Boyle Park in a slaying prosecutors said Tuesday was gang and drug related.
A passer-by discovered Bennett’s body lying next to a 1992 Chevrolet Caprice with its engine running in the parking lot of the park’s basketball court. Several shell casings lay scattered around the car, and a loaded .45-caliber gun was found under the driver’s seat. No one has been charged in the killing.
This story was published Wednesday, July 20, 2005
Copyright © 2005, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc.
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