A “series of mistakes” led prosecutors to offer a plea deal Tuesday to a man charged with murder, officials said.
Samad Wilson is heading to prison to serve 15 years of a 20-year manslaughter sentence because his confession to police would have been suppressed during the murder trial, according to Channel 2 Action News.
Wilson was charged in the December 2014 death of Jeremy Milbry, who was shot in the back after two groups got into an argument that escalated to a fight at the Stone Brook Apartments in Clayton County just south of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
Two others were charged in the shooting, but charges were dropped against them, Channel 2 reported.
Wilson pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of manslaughter Tuesday, but Milbry’s mother, Aneria Johnson, said he should have been convicted of murder.
“He confessed he was the shooter,” Johnson told Channel 2.
Clayton County Detective B. Higgins failed to read Wilson his Miranda rights until about an hour and a half after his confession, prosecutors said. But that wasn’t the only reason the charge was reduced.
Police Chief Mike Register said it was the first murder case Higgins had investigated.
“It was a series of mistakes,” Register said.
Register told Channel 2 that Higgins thought Wilson was a witness who had voluntarily come forward, and when he confessed that Higgins let Wilson continue even though he hadn’t been read his rights.
“We know from hindsight that we probably should have stopped him when we found out he was doing a confession,” Register said.
Changing witness stories, as well as issues prosecutors had with witnesses’ credibility, also played a role in reducing the charge against Wilson.
Register said he plans to make changes that will prevent these sorts of mistakes from affecting future cases.
About the Author
