When Demetrius White was gunned down in Lawrenceville on the afternoon of June 11, 2009, at least half a dozen people — probably more — witnessed the shooting.
People who were in the car with White and friends of the shooter didn’t step forward to explain what happened, though. And the three young men whom police charged with murder sat in jail for nearly two years rather than talk.
Their silence stymied the investigation and confounded the victim’s mother, Chiquita White, 40, of Norcross, who was desperate for answers.
It wasn’t until this month that one of the co-defendants finally confessed to being the gunman, exonerating the other two. Three days before his trial was to begin on May 16, Kevin Henderson, 23, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter for firing gunshots into a vehicle, killing White and wounding another passenger.
As a result, Gwinnett County prosecutors dropped murder charges against Michael White (who is not related to Demetrius White) and Brandon Ennis. The two 16-year-olds were released from juvenile detention May 16. By that time, Ennis had spent nearly two years in custody; White had been jailed for about a year.
Assistant District Attorney Mike McDaniel said the boys still could face charges in juvenile court related to their obstruction of the investigation. He said they provided misleading information and did not cooperate with the police.
Michael White’s mother did not respond to requests for an interview after her son’s release.
Ennis’ mother, Suzette Ennis, said he was just a scared 14-year-old when he was arrested in July 2009 and it wasn’t his responsibility to set police straight.
“There (are) 43 witnesses; I don’t think it’s the child’s responsibility to initiate anything that’s an adult issue,” Suzette Ennis said. “There was plenty of adults there. The kids were scared. They ran just like everybody else did.”
Gwinnett police say investigators often are stymied by an “anti-snitch” attitude among witnesses, and a dislike of police promoted by rap culture.
“There are several rap groups that have done songs about stop snitching, or rats, or ‘snitches get stitches,’” said Gwinnett police spokesman Jake Smith. “They feel when their co-criminals get caught, they should take their lumps and keep their mouths shut and not try to get out of trouble by offering police information.”
Michael White spent about 11 months out of jail on bond, but his bond was revoked in June 2010 when he pushed a police officer and threatened administrators at his school, according to court records. Ennis was denied bond from the start because he had a juvenile record in California.
Suzette Ennis said her son probably would have talked to police had they questioned him during the initial stages of the investigation. He didn’t talk to them after the arrest because he was facing a murder charge, she said.
“When somebody gives you a warrant and says you’re arrested for murder, at that point there is no talking,” Suzette Ennis said. “Anything you say can be used against you.”
Defense attorney Stan Sunderland, who represented Michael White, said White was raised in a low-income environment where people are wary of police. “Police are viewed as adversaries,” Sunderland said.
Chiquita White doesn’t feel the least bit sorry for the two boys.
“I do think they deserved to be in jail those two years,” she said. “All they had to do was tell the police what happened, and they could have been let free.”
Investigators said Demetrius White, 21, his friend Carl Judson and another man drove to apartment homes on Caboose Court looking for someone Judson thought had snitched on him to police about a robbery. The trio were followed by two other vehicles occupied by several of their male and female friends.
An argument ensued with neighborhood residents, including Michael White and Brandon Ennis. Henderson, a friend from Oakland, Calif., who had been staying at Michael White’s home, came out and fired into one of the cars, wounding Judson and killing Demetrius White.
Michael White and Ennis rode away from the scene on their bicycles before police arrived. Henderson also disappeared and was arrested by U.S. marshals a month later in California. The boys were asleep on a plane at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, having just returned from a trip to California, when they were arrested about a month after the shooting.
The victim’s mother has been upset by their silence, and the silence of other witnesses, many of whom were her son’s friends. Judson wouldn’t talk to police until they subpoenaed him, and the third man who was with them in the car changed his name and disappeared, Chiquita White said.
Demetrius White has two daughters, ages 2 and 3. He was engaged to marry and he planned to join the military. His mother said he was not involved in any criminal activity. He got sucked into the dispute because he gave Judson a ride that day.
Chiquita White still hopes Michael White and Ennis will come clean about what they saw.
“You know exactly what happened, because you were there,” she said.
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