Appellant Charles Slaton, along with five others, were indicted for malice murder and felony murder aggravated assault of Marcus Holloway, aggravated assault of Holloway, aggravated assault of LaQuinton Forte, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. Slaton’s case was severed and he was tried separately from the remaining four co-indictees who were tried. Slaton was found guilty of all counts except for malice murder and the possession count.1 All the co-indictees were part of a group that called themselves the “Ho Haters.”
The evidence presented at trial shows that on the evening of January 28, 2011, Slaton visited a woman at the apartment complex where the crimes occurred. While he was there, Dwain O’Neal also showed up. O’Neal and Slaton were at that time engaged in a conflict over stolen guns. Slaton hid under a bed while O’Neal angrily demanded to know where Slaton was. When O’Neal left the apartment, he asked some men who were hanging around the parking lot which car was Slaton’s, and he then slashed the tires on Slaton’s car. In his recorded statement made to police, Slaton stated he saw this conduct from inside the apartment and called co-indictee Antoine Willis to come pick him up. Slaton stated he told Willis that O’Neal had a pistol and was looking for Slaton. He instructed Willis to pull up in a car and be prepared that someone “might shoot at us.” Slaton knew Willis and the other co-indictees had guns. In his statement to police, Slaton stated that if he had been armed, he would not have had to call anyone but would have handled the situation himself. In response to Slaton’s call, Willis drove to the complex in a car with co-indictees Jaqwanta Grimes and Brandon Reed as passengers. Co-indictee Kyree Brantley drove a second car there with co-indictee Lancelot Hicks as a passenger. Grimes, Brandon, Willis, and Brantley, got out of the cars and started shooting handguns. At that point, O’Neal ran out the back of the apartment building. Reed and Willis ran toward the building to get Slaton, and Slaton ran out the door of the apartment to join them. Unidentified individuals in the group of men who came to rescue Slaton opened fire to cover Slaton and they all got into the two vehicles and drove away. Several who were present in the apartment parking area, including victim Forte, were able to run away from the gunfire, but victim Holloway was killed.
