Tag Archives: Kevin Gough

News, Politics, Government

Teens pleads not guilty in Ga. baby slaying

Leave a comment

A coastal Georgia teenager has pleaded not guilty to murder charges in the slaying of a baby that authorities say was shot in the face during an attempted robbery on a street.

Court records show 15-year-old Dominique Lang waived arraignment before a judge Thursday in Brunswick and entered his plea in writing. Attorneys told the judge a second suspect, 17-year-old De’Marquise (day-mahr-KEESE) Elkins, had also waived arraignment but there was no record of his written plea in the court file.

Elkins’ attorney, Kevin Gough, declined to comment.

The suspects are charged in the March 21 slaying of 13-month-old Antonio Santiago. Authorities say Elkins shot the child in his stroller as he and Lang tried to rob the baby’s mother.

Both teenagers have been charged as adults.

From: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/national/~3/iCpT1FEXpG8/

News, Politics, Government

Judge wants trial in baby killing before year ends

Leave a comment

A judge said Friday he wants a trial before the end of the year for a teenager charged with fatally shooting a 13-month-old baby in the face during a street robbery two weeks ago.

Glynn County Superior Court Judge Stephen Kelley didn’t give a tentative trial date for 17-year-old De’Marquis Elkins. District Attorney Jackie Johnson told the judge she thought investigators would have evidence ready to share with Elkins’ defense lawyers next month. The judge scheduled the suspect’s next hearing for May 24.

“I do expect we will try this case by the end of this year,” Kelley told the attorneys at the end of a bond hearing Friday morning.

The judge denied Elkins’ request for bond, saying he was concerned the suspect might flee if he was released.

Elkins faces life in prison if convicted of malice murder in the March 21 slaying of Antonio Santiago. Police say the boy was shot in a robbery attempt. His mother, Sherry West, has said she was pushing her son in his stroller a few blocks from her apartment when two youths approached asking for money. When she refused, she said, one of them drew a gun and shot her in the leg before shooting her baby in the face.

An indictment last week identified Elkins as the person who pulled the trigger. Another teenager, 15-year-old Dominique Lang, has been charged with murder as an accomplice.

“Mr. Elkins is certainly disappointed with the decision” to deny him bond, said Kevin Gough, the suspect’s defense attorney. “But he is also every encouraged by the speedy trial schedule the court is considering.”

Gough had urged the judge to consider bond for Elkins based on his lack of any prior felony record, though Elkins pleaded guilty last year to misdemeanor charges of marijuana possession and giving a false name to a police officer.

The suspect’s 78-year-old great grandfather, McKinley Elkins Jr., took the witness stand and promised the judge he would personally look after his great grandson if he was released from jail pending trial.

“I truly believe, deep down in my heart, that he will be a gentleman from this day forward,” the elder Elkins said.

But just how well the great grandfather knew …read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News

News, Politics, Government

Lawyer for Georgia teen charged in baby killing says client '1,000-percent' not guilty

Leave a comment

The lawyer for one of the Georgia teenagers charged with murder in a baby’s shooting said Monday his client is “absolutely” not guilty and the grandmother of the second suspect said her grandson would never be involved in such a crime.

“My client is absolutely, 1,000-percent not guilty,” public defender Kevin Gough, who represents 17-year-old De’Marquise Elkins, told The Associated Press. He made the comments Monday, while preparing for Elkins’ first court appearance on the murder charge. It was scheduled for 2 p.m. Monday.

Elkins and a 15-year-old are charged in Thursday’s shooting of 13-month-old Antonio Santiago who was in his stroller on a walk with his mother, Sherry West, who was also shot. Both suspects are charged as adults.

At a Monday hearing, the 15-year-old came into the courtroom shackled and wearing a baggy orange jumpsuit, The Florida Times-Union reported.

The teen glanced at the few members of the media allowed into the courtroom for the initial appearance as he shuffled to a lectern facing Glynn County Magistrate Tim Barton.

The magistrate told the boy he couldn’t set a bond because only Superior Court judges can do so in murder cases.

“I’m going to see that you get a lawyer immediately,” Barton said.

The teen was in the eighth grade at Glynn Middle School before his arrest, said Jim Weidhaas, a spokesman for the school system.

The teen’s relatives said he would never get involved in such a crime. His grandmother told WJXT-TV in Jacksvonville the boy is a baby himself, not a baby killer.

Elkins was last a student in October 2011, when he left Ombudsman, an alternative school program, Weidhaas said.

Sherry West said she was walking home when two boys confronted her to try to rob her and one of them opened fire. Police say she was shot in the leg, and her baby was shot in face.

Gough, Elkins attorney, said he has demanded a bond hearing and filed a request for a speedy trial for Elkins.

“We look forward to our day in court,” he said.

Firstcoastnews.com interviewed Ashley Glassey, the 21-year-old daughter of West, who told the station that the night of the shooting, West asked her how soon a life insurance policy would send her a check.

“She changed her story she told me the baby was shot first and then she told me she was shot first,” Glassey told the station.

West has said she picked the gunman out of a photo lineup of 24 mugshots and insists he killed her baby.

Click for more from Firstcoastnews.com

…read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News

News, Politics, Government

Lawyer for Georgia 17-year-old says his client 'absolutely' not guilty of killing baby in stroller

Leave a comment

The lawyer for a suspect in the shooting death of a baby who was killed in his stroller says his client is “absolutely” not guilty.

“My client is absolutely, 1,000 percent not guilty,” public defender Kevin Gough, who represents 17-year-old De’Marquise Elkins, told The Associated Press. He made the comments Monday, while preparing for Elkins’ first court appearance on a murder charge. It was scheduled for 2 p.m. Monday.

Earlier, a 14-year-old boy who also faces a murder charge appeared in court Monday morning in the death of 13-month-old Antonio Santiago in Brunswick. The baby was killed Thursday as his mother walked him on a Brunswick street.

At Monday morning’s hearing, the 14-year-old came into the courtroom shackled and wearing a baggy orange jumpsuit, The Florida Times-Union reported.

He glanced at the few members of the media allowed into the courtroom for the initial appearance as he shuffled to a lectern facing Glynn County Magistrate Tim Barton.

The magistrate told the boy he can’t set a bond since only Superior Court judges can do so in murder cases,

“I’m going to see that you get a lawyer immediately,” Barton told the boy.

The 14-year-old was in the eighth grade at Glynn Middle School before his arrest, said Jim Weidhaas, a spokesman for the Glynn County school system.

Elkins was last a student in the system in October 2011 when he left Ombudsman, an outsourced alternative school program, Weidhaas said.

The baby’s mother, Sherry West, said she was walking home Thursday morning when two boys confronted her and one of them opened fire. Police say she was shot in the leg, and her baby was shot in face.

Gough said he has demanded a bond hearing and filed a request for a speedy trial for Elkins.

“We look forward to our day in court,” he said.

…read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News