COLUMBUS, Ga. (WRBL) — Five years after Alex Bales-Davis was shot to death in South Columbus, two men are facing murder and criminal street gang charges in Muscogee County Superior Court.
Kendaryl Rogers and Marquise Hawkins are on trial and WRBL News 3's Chuck Williams was in the courtroom Wednesday afternoon for opening statements.
While prosecutors set up the case for the jury, they described a conflict between the victim and the accused that lasted for weeks and resulted in a gang war.
"It went from words to fists, bullets, to more bullets, to death," said Lee Stoy Jr., Assistant Attorney General.
Stoy outlined a summer of violence in 2020 that left Bales-Davis dead, and his girlfriend shot multiple times.
It started with a fight involving one of the defendants and Bales-Davis in July at Club Fetish on Armour Road.
It ended when Rogers and Hawkins opened fire on Bales-Davis at Brennan Road and St. Mary's Road, according to prosecutors.
"One night. One fight changed everything for Mr. Hawkins and his family... the state is going to tell you that Mr. Hawkins encouraged Mr. Rogers; he encouraged him to kill Mr. Alex Bales-Davis. But when you see the evidence, you will see that it is not true," said Kenyanna Marshall, Hawkins' defense attorney.
The prosecution told the jury that the victim was also a gang member.
"Without respect, the gang member has nothing. Respect, as you will learn, comes through violence... and you will learn that if at any point there is disrespect, a response is required. And that response is required to be above and beyond what that initial disrespect was," Stoy said.
There were multiple drive-by shootings into houses that were a part of the conflict and the prosecutors claim was at the center of the murder.
Bales-Davis' girlfriend recovered from the wounds she suffered in the incident and is expected to testify for the prosecution.
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