21-year-old Kiana Marshall called her mother to inform her that she will be kicking out two of her roommates for their failure to pay rent. It would shortly turn out to be her last talk to her mother, as she would be ordered killed later by one of the roommates she was kicking out on the same day the rent was due.
Shortly after the call with her mother, Kiana, along with her 18-year-old brother Isaiah Martin and their 20-year-old friend Alexis Kitchens were shot and killed in their Savannah, Georgia home. The Savannah police have confirmed the incident.
One of the roommates being kicked out for non-payment of rent, Diamond Butler, has confessed to the court that she has asked someone to shoot at her roommates.
Dwayne Abney, 20, and James Hampton, 24, are now on trial charged with the killing the three housemates.
Butler admitted that he ordered Hampton to shoot her roommates. She said: “I told him I wanted to go shoot the house up.”
Prosecutors told the court that Butler even waited outside the home while the shootings were happening inside the residence she once shared with her roommates.
Butler, testifying as part of plea deal, told the court this week that Hampton brought a 9mm weapon with him, while Abney was armed with a 380 weapon.
Neighbors also testified as witnesses, sharing that they heard multiple shots on the day of the incident.
Butler has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder, three counts of aggravated assault and a single count of burglary.
Hampton and Abney have both entered a not guilty plea.
The other roommate who was also being kicked out then was not charged as she was not involved in the fatal shooting of their former housemates.
Images shown at the trial on Monday were so graphic and disconcerting that the crying family members had to be escorted out of the courtroom so that their emotions would not affect the jurors’ deliberations.
Abney’s lawyer is pinning more of the blame on Hampton. It is not clear why they agreed to do the shooting if Butler promised them with anything in return.
The trial will continue for the 2015 murders.
Source:
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article188237984.html
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