Forrest suspects hear death penalty plans

By Mike Morris

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The three suspects in the shooting death of former world champion boxer Vernon Forrest heard the news first hand in a Fulton County courtroom Thursday that prosecutors will seek the death penalty against them.

About a dozen family members and friends of the victim were in the courtroom as Fulton County Assistant District Attorney Pete Johnson served official notice on defendants Demario Ware, Jquante Crews and Charmon Sinkfield that they would face a possible death penalty.

Forrest's mother, Mildred Forrest, sobbed quietly at the end of the 10-minute hearing before Fulton Superior Court Judge Alford J. Dempsey. The family left the courtroom after the arraignment without making any public comment about the case.

Forrest was fatally shot following a July 26 armed robbery at a gas station in southwest Atlanta.

During Thursday's arraignment, the defendants sat emotionless as Johnson listed the aggravated circumstances required to seek the death penalty, among them that the murder of Forrest "was outrageously or wantonly vile, horrible or inhuman in that it involved torture, depravity of mind or an aggravated battery to Vernon Forrest."

Dempsey said the trial would be presided over by another judge to be chosen at a later date.