XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, talk.politics.guns, atl.general
XPost: sac.politics

Just after 4 a.m. on June 13, 2014, gunshots rang out – over and over and
over. Atlanta police raced to respond to a 911 report of a street
shooting.

In the driver’s seat of a silver Hyundai, they found 18-year-old Darius Bottoms, nephew of councilwoman Keisha Lance Bottoms.

“There were 18 shots fired at this vehicle,” investigators told “The Real Murders of Atlanta,” airing Fridays at 9/8c on Oxygen. “The manner in
which this was carried out was not accidental.”

A CSI unit processed the crime scene and recovered 18 spent 9mm shell
casings. But only one bullet went through the windshield, struck Bottoms
in the forehead and killed him

Bottoms’ devastated parents grappled with the tragic news. “I remember
sitting on the curb and just crying,” said his mother, Myeka Jennings.

Oxy App
Oxy App

Full Episode
Watch More 'Real Murders Of Atlanta' Episodes In Our Free App
Investigators learned that Bottoms was a family and community-oriented
business major at Atlanta Metropolitan State College. Witnesses described
him as “an outstanding young man,” said Clint Rucker, Executive A.D.A,
Fulton County Attorney’s Office.

Police wondered if a carjacking had turned deadly, unable to immediately determine what set the crime in motion. Hoping to get answers police spoke
with 18-year-old Jared Williams, who was a passenger in Bottoms’ car.

Before the shooting Bottoms and Williams had been at a nearby friend's
house playing video games. Williams was catching a ride home with Bottoms
but as they began driving, they “made eye contact with an individual in
the middle of the street,” Williams told police. Suddenly the person
started shooting at them.

Bottoms tried to drive away but couldn’t. Williams jumped out of the car
and ran. Williams' details were blurry. He wore contact lenses but didn’t
have them in that night and didn't get a good look at the shooter.

Police hoped that ballistics evidence would provide a lead. The crime lab determined that two 9mm pistols were used and that Bottoms had been caught
in the crossfire.

“It was very clear to me that this was a very intentional murder,” Rucker
told producers. But why had Bottoms been targeted?

Darius Bottoms, featured on Real Murders of Atlanta 206
Darius Bottoms, featured on Real Murders of Atlanta 206
Darius Bottoms, featured on Real Murders of Atlanta 206 Photo: Oxygen

Detectives considered that he may have been a “collateral murder” to send
a political message to his aunt, who was running for the mayor’s office, according to investigators.

Detectives looked into potential suspects tied to the political arena, but
the line of investigation was a dead end.

They switched their focus to learn if Bottoms' friends, in case he had dangerous associations. After all, the location of the shooting was an epicenter of gang activity, according to investigators, who tapped the
Atlanta PD’s gang unit for assistance. However, they found no evidence
tying Bottoms to illicit activity.

A month after the slaying investigators were chasing any and all leads.
Then, in September, information from the ballistics lab finally advanced
the case.

Police learned that eight days after Bottoms was killed, 18-year-old David Wallace was arrested for possession of a stolen gun, which was determined
to be one of the guns used in Bottoms' slaying. The serial number on the
gun revealed that it had been stolen in an armed robbery in Clayton County
a day before Bottoms was killed, according to Brett Zimbrick, a homicide detective with the Atlanta Police Department.

It was stolen from a woman who had just purchased it at a pawn shop on
June 12. Hours later it was used to shoot Bottoms.

Detectives checked Wallace out of the Fulton County jail, placed him in a
squad car and interviewed him at the Bottoms crime scene. Wallace denied
ever being in that location before.

Investigators turned their attention to the victim of the gun robbery, who
was unable to identify Wallace in a photo array. Police obtained
surveillance video from the pawn shop, which showed Wallace along with a
young man and a woman. Detectives identified the woman and spoke with her
aunt, who said her niece had fled after there was a drive-by shooting she believed was aimed at her.

Ryan Bowdery, featured on Real Murders of Atlanta 206
Ryan Bowdery, featured on Real Murders of Atlanta 206
Ryan Bowdery, featured on Real Murders of Atlanta 206 Photo: Oxygen

A month later, the woman reached out to police from Florida. She’d learned
from her aunt that detectives wanted to speak with her.

She told investigators she was at the Bottoms crime scene, though she
didn’t know who’d been shot. She’d driven the getaway car and identified Wallace as being there. Two men she knew as “Slug” and “Shooter” were the gunmen.

“Slug” was identified by detectives as Rashad Barber and “Shooter” as Ryan Bowdery. The young woman confirmed that they were involved through police photos.

As for the motive, police discovered Bottoms was targeted by mistake. The
young woman told them that he “was the victim of a mistaken identity,”
said Rucker.

“Darius and Jared were at the wrong place at the wrong time," added Tyrone Dennis, a former detective with the Atlanta Police Department.

The young woman explained that the night before Bottoms was killed,
Bowdery’s stepfather had been shot and severely injured in front of his
house. Bowdery believed that the shooter drove a light-colored Hyundai, so
when Bowdery and his cohorts spotted Bottoms’ car, they believed they’d
found the person who’d shot Bowdery’s stepfather. Bottoms was a fatal
victim of retaliation.

Police obtained arrest warrants for Bowdery, Barber and Wallace — the
latter was already in jail. They were charged with murder. In exchange for
her cooperation at the trial, the young woman was granted immunity for
Bottoms’ murder.

In December 2017, the trial was set to begin. Keisha Lance Bottoms was now Atlanta’s Mayor-elect, which shone a bright spotlight on the court
proceedings.

She attended the trial “not just as a mayor but as an auntie,” said
Atlanta television journalist Shaunya Chavis.

Barber, then 19, Bowdery, then 23, and Wallace, then 22, were convicted
for murder and other charges, reported WSB-TV. They all were sentenced to
life in prison.

To learn more about the case, watch “The Real Murders of Atlanta,” airing Fridays at 9/8c on Oxygen.

<https://news.yahoo.com/18-shots-fired-nephew-future-010002169.html>

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)