LAGRANGE, Ga. — Jayden Gunsby, the 13-year-old charged with murder in LaGrange, made his first court appearance Wednesday and a bond hearing is scheduled for next week.
The teen turned himself in Monday night after LaGrange Police said they were looking for him in the death of 20-year-old Davaris Lindsey.
Lindsey was found with multiple gunshot wounds on April 9 at the intersection of McGregor and Colquitt Streets and died two days later. Gunsby is being charged as an adult.
LaGrange Police Lieutenant Mark Cavender said Gunsby did fire shots in the shooting. Lt. Cavender said Gunsby isn't the only suspect but is the only one who's been publicly named so far.
Wednesday's court proceedings indicated there could be as many as four other people who were in a car involved in the incident.
Lt. Cavender said Gunsby and Lindsey knew of one another but wouldn't elaborate on how or on a possible motive due to the investigation still being active.
"Some of the parties that we know that may be involved do have gang ties. So we're definitely looking at the gang aspect as well," explained Lt. Cavender.
11Alive obtained an incident report Wednesday that offers a few new details into Lindsey's death, including that officers arrived on scene to find him with a gunshot wound to the head.
The warrants state officers attempted medical aid on scene. They also note that a house and car were both shot during the incident while people were inside. Those people were not injured.
Police found several shell casings on Colquitt Street and officers spoke to witnesses, but the incident report notes that "most would not speak or state they saw anything other than a white vehicle and a gold vehicle left a ahigh rate of speed from the area."
Jayden Gunsby's age
There's been a lot of comments on social media after LaGrange Police released Gunsby's picture considering his age. Lt. Cavender confirmed the district attorney decided to charge Gunsby as an adult in the homicide.
"Murder is considered one of the seven deadly sins in the state of Georgia. There are seven types of felonies where a juvenile, as long as they're 13 years of age or older can be charged as an adult with one of these seven deadly sins," said Lt. Cavender.
The seven deadly sins Lt. Cavender are referring to include the following:
- Murder
- Rape
- Armed Robbery (with a firearm)
- Aggravated Child Molestation
- Aggravated Sodomy
- Aggravated Sexual Battery
- Voluntary Manslaughter
Lt. Cavender said a judge signed the murder warrant on Gunsby on April 12.
"We made several attempts through family members and other people that we know that are acquainted with him to locate him," he explained.
Gunsby's age has shocked many but Lt. Cavender said they're starting to see the ages of their suspects drop.
"It's becoming less and less rare today to encounter some of our younger youth that are becoming more and more involved in violent crime," Lt. Cavender explained. "It starts in the home. If parents aren't involved and they don't see what their kids are involved in... my opinion, you can't be really surprised whenever something like this happens."