Witness points to different suspect in Standard murder

The shooting of a key witness may not be the only hurdle the Fulton County district attorney faces in convicting Jonathan Redding of the murder of a Grant Park bartender.

Prosecutors will have to persuade the jury to hold Redding accountable when according to court documents he might not be the man who actually shot John Henderson to death when robbing the Standard Food & Spirits on Jan. 7, 2009.

Atlanta Detective Kevin Otts questioned a 19-year-old witness six months after the Henderson killing who said she spoke to  "Nuk" and "G-Dog" at a store in Mechanicsville and that Nuk boasted twice about killing Henderson while G-Dog said the killing was an accident.

According to court documents and gang investigators, "Nuk" is Johnquavious Hood and "G-Dog" is Redding. Both are alleged members of 30 Deep, a highly organized and violent street gang that grew up around Turner Field and has been blamed for high-profile crimes ranging from the "blue-jeans bandit" heists at boutiques to home invasions and slayings.

"In my mind, G-Dog didn't do it," the witness told the detective. "That is when I knew Nuk had killed the young guy. At the same time Nuk was bragging how he killed the bartender... G-Dog was also in the bar the night of the murder but he ... don't want to tell on his friend."

The witness identified Hood as the person she knew as "Nuk" from a series of photographs.

The witness said both Nuk and G-Dog were among the robbers at the tavern. Their target was the flat-screen televisions, the witness said.

The district attorney's office indicted Redding under the "felony murder" law, which in this case means he can be found guilty of murder if a jury determines he participated in an armed robbery that resulted in a death.

Redding is the only person arrested in the killing of Henderson and the home invasion and shooting of Eddie Pugh two days after the tavern robbery.

Gunmen shot Pugh  in his legs last weekend with an assault rifle, two days before Redding's murder trial was to start. Pugh, who lost a leg from the attack, is in intensive care and unable to testify. Superior Court Judge Kimberly Esmond Adams delayed the trial until March 7.

District Attorney Paul Howard did not respond to questions about why Hood has not been charged in the Henderson killing.

Hood, 18, is in the Fulton County Jail on unrelated charges of burglary and membership in a criminal street gang.

Henderson was killed by bullets fired through the kitchen door when the robbers were leaving, possibly to intimidate the victims, and not execution-style as initially reported by police.

But a transcript of a hearing Monday, in which prosecutors sought a continuance of the case, shows how tenuous prosecutors now see their case. According to the transcript, Pugh's testimony is "crucial" to tying Redding to three armed robberies and the slaying. That could be a problem for prosecutors if Pugh dies or is too intimidated to testify, according to the transcript.

"Without [Pugh's] testimony, the state simply cannot go forward ... we need him for justice," prosecutor Lance Cross said when asking Adams to delay the trial Monday. "The incident that he is a victim in is crucial to this case."

Adams initially was skeptical of the need for the delay because Gabe Banks, head of the gang unit for the Fulton County D.A., had told her Pugh's testimony wasn't critical. He said the trial could go forwardy because police and forensic experts would be testifying about key evidence -- DNA and ballistics -- that  linked Redding to two other robberies and Henderson's killing, according to a court transcript of the hearing obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Redding and two other men allegedly invaded Pugh's southwest Atlanta apartment on Jan. 9, 2009, just two days after the Standard bar robbery. Pugh was wounded in the hip and his partner retaliated with an AK-47, striking Redding in the shoulder, police said.