SUPERIOR COURT
The trial of three men charged with murder in the Nov. 13, 2017, shooting death of 24-year-old Donald Marquise Hardwick of Gray began Monday.
Jury selection started Sept. 26 and was anticipated to take two days because of the multiple attorneys involved in the case.
The case is being prosecuted by Ocmulgee Circuit District Attorney T. Wright Barksdale and Assistant District Attorney Cara Fiore. Barksdale said he estimates the length of the trial at two weeks. He said the state’s witness list contains 55 names.
Camaren Myles Banks, Justierrious Shyheim Canty and Jaqualan Desean Clark were each indicted in Aug. 6, 2018, on counts of malice murder, felony murder, armed robbery, burglary and assorted other charges.
Banks is represented by defense attorney Melvin Raines II; Canty is represented by defense attorney Adrian Patrick; and Clark is represented by defense attorney Sarah Flack.
The trial was set to begin March 23, 2020, but was derailed by the March 14, 2020, announcement by Georgia Supreme Court Judge Harold Melton, declaring a statewide judicial emergency due to the pandemic. The courts were ordered closed for 30 days but ended up being closed for more than eight months for in-person court proceedings.
Since court system reopened in 2021, there have continued to be multiple delays, the most recent due to a pending decision from the Georgia Supreme Court that the judge felt could have an impact on the Jones County trial.
The investigation of the case was a team effort with the Gray Police Department and Jones County Sheriff’s Office. Investigators also thanked the Bibb County Sheriff’s Department, Georgia Department of Corrections, U.S. Marshal Fugitive Task Force, Medical Center Police, sheriff departments in Byron, Peach, Clayton, Henry, Wilkinson, and Putnam counties, and police departments in McDonough and Milledgeville for their help.
