Family and friends of Brittney Watts, killed by a gunshot to the neck July 15 in a Midtown parking deck, packed a Fulton County courtroom Wednesday to get their first look at the former security guard accused of shooting her and two other women.
They waited three hours for Nkosi Thandiwe's lawyer to appear. Defense attorney Rickey Richardson had not been notified of the hearing and, because of that oversight, Fulton Superior Court Judge Kelly Lee granted his motion to continue, rescheduling Thandiwe's arraignment to Nov. 16.
It was just the latest delay in the case that still lacks any discernible motive.
Thandiwe was finally indicted nine days ago after two previous hearings were postponed by his attorneys. Thandiwe, the son of a lawyer, still hasn't formally heard the charges against him, which include murder, felony murder, aggravated assault and gun possession.
Richardson told the court he is "procuring a mental health professional" to evaluate Thandiwe.
The 22-year-old appeared in court handcuffed and shackled, his hair trimmed short, his head bowed. Thandiwe did not appear to make eye contact with anyone in the courtroom during the brief hearing.
Senior Assistant District Attorney Fani Willis said the county intends to seek a life sentence for Thandiwe without the possibility of parole.
Atlanta police say Watts, on the day of the shootings, encountered Thandiwe on the third level of the parking deck across the street from her office.
After Thandiwe shot Watts and took her car, police say he shot at two other women as he drove out of the parking deck. Lauren Garcia was paralyzed by the gunfire. Another woman, Tiffany Ferenczy, was shot in the calf and returned to work the following week.
All three shooting victims worked in the Proscenium building at 14th Street and Crescent Avenue in Midtown, as did Thandiwe, who had been a security guard there for about a year.
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