A Coffee County jury convicted Savionte Traylor, 22, of Douglas, for the October 5, 2020, shooting death of Ja’Rique Johan Brown, 15, also of Douglas. Brown was found deceased in the road at 367 Creekwood Road in Douglas around 6 p.m. on that afternoon.
Within two days, officers had arrested a juvenile and Traylor, both of whom were charged with Brown’s death. This week, Traylor faced trial on four counts: Felony murder, furnishing a pistol to a minor, felony murder by aggravated assault, and tampering with evidence.
Traylor and the juvenile had met with Brown to sell him a handgun for $300. During the transaction, Traylor shot and killed Brown, leaving him in the roadway. Traylor maintained that he had shot Brown in self-defense. According to his attorneys, Brown had produced another gun that he had on his person at the scene. Traylor then fired at Brown, jumped in his car, and left. As evidence of his claim, his defense pointed out that a bullet hole in the bumper of the car came from Brown’s gun.
Though the hole was in fact a bullet hole, investigators could not retrieve a bullet from the car nor could they determine which gun fired the bullet or when the bumper was shot. Additionally, the prosecution emphasized that Traylor’s actions, most notably the fact that he told at least three different stories about what happened during the course of the investigation as well as his attempts to hide his car in the aftermath of the shooting, as proof that he did not kill Brown in self-defense. Also, Brown was found moments after he was killed and there was no gun near his body at the time.
After two days of testimony, attorneys wrapped their arguments and gave the case to the jury. They began deliberating on Thursday about 6 p.m. and continued to about 8 p.m. The presiding judge released the jury then and they returned Friday morning. They deliberated again for about an hour before returning a guilty verdict on three of the four counts.
They found Traylor guilty of felony murder, furnishing a pistol to a minor, and tampering with evidence. They acquitted Traylor of murder by aggravated assault. He was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole. Traylor will be eligible for parole after 30 years.
The second defendant in Brown’s murder will face trial at a later date.