Gang member Johnquavious Hood said little to police after he turned up at Grady Memorial Hospital Jan. 15 with multiple gunshot wounds.
Fulton County Deputy District Attorney Gabe Banks said Thursday that Hood — implicated in the January 2009 slaying of a popular Grant Park bartender — was likely trying to shield investigators from the circumstances of the shooting. According to Banks, Hood was shot by a Cobb County liquor store owner during a smash-and-grab gone awry.
The latest allegation only increases the odds that the 30 Deep alum will be sent back to prison to serve out the remainder of his sentence — up to six years — from a previous burglary conviction unrelated to the shooting of John Henderson at Standard Food and Spirits.
Hood’s probation officer had already reported a number of serious infractions by the 20-year-old since his release from Georgia State Prison in Reidsville on Dec. 14.
“All police officers should be dead,” Hood told Officer Marissa Viverito, according to her testimony. Viverito said he also tried to steal her iPhone and failed two drug tests. Hood was arrested nearly three weeks ago and charged with armed robbery, burglary, criminal damage to property and participating in criminal street gang activity.
A probation revocation hearing set for Thursday morning was delayed when it was revealed a conflict within the public defender’s office had prevented Hood from obtaining legal representation.
Banks said he expects the hearing to be reset for sometime within the next 30 days.
“My spirits are buoyed up by these developments, especially if they result in Hood being taken off the streets more or less permanently,” said Don Henderson, father of the slain bartender.
Prosecutors said they believed Hood fired the head shot that killed 27-year-old John Henderson, but they lacked the physical evidence to charge the 30 Deep gang member. One witness told police that Hood, then 18, claimed responsibility for the slaying.
But Hood allegedly told police in a videotaped interrogation that Jonathan Redding killed the bartender. Redding, 17 at the time, was eventually charged under a law that allows a jury to convict a defendant for murder if he participated in an armed robbery that resulted in a death. He was convicted and sentenced to life plus 20 years in March 2011 for his role in Henderson’s death.
Despite allegedly snitching on a fellow gang member, Hood, according to his probation officer, had been welcomed back into the fold, frequenting a Mechanicsville storefront known as the gang’s hangout.
After being told to stay away from the store, Hood allegedly responded, “If the undercovers try to jump out on me … I have enough guns there to take them all out.”
Hood remains incarcerated at Fulton County Jail pending the outcome of his probation hearing.
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