Trial starts for men accused of killing women for gang boss in DeKalb

In this file photo, DeKalb County police officials confer at the scene where two women were found shot dead on May 19, 2014.

Credit: JOHN SPINK / AJC

Credit: JOHN SPINK / AJC

In this file photo, DeKalb County police officials confer at the scene where two women were found shot dead on May 19, 2014.

After four years of legal grappling in DeKalb County courts, the trial started this week for three of the seven defendants charged with various roles in the executions of two young women, a pair of killings one of the suspects said was caused by an insult to a Bloods gang leader.

“She called him a (expletive),” Demetre Mason told police, according to court records.

He was talking about Sonia Williams, the 21-year-old victim, and Malcom "Dot" Brown. Prosecutors say the reputed gang boss prescribed the executions of Williams and her friend, 20-year-old Shaniqua Camacho, after an argument with Williams. Camacho, an old friend of Williams, wasn't involved in the fight and didn't know the alleged gang members.

In court filings, prosecutors have said Brown ordered subordinates to kill the women because he feared that Williams would send rival gang members after him.

The women were found gunned down in the Snapfinger area on May 19, 2014.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Alleged gang boss accused of ordering two DeKalb murders arrested

MORE: DeKalb judge lets gang leader out on bond in double murder case

READ: Suit claims raid of popular strip club in DeKalb was unlawful

The gang-related nature of the case, and questions about how to lay out details about the inner workings of the Bloods to the jury, have led to disagreements between Judge Linda Hunter and the district attorney’s office.

The murder trial started this week and is for defendants Mason, Michael Jenkins and Frankland Henderson. There are conflicting accounts of who the actual shooter or shooters were in the murders, but these three men are accused of taking some part in the incident.

The trial is expected to last through next week, the district attorney’s office said.

Brown, the alleged gang leader, will go to trial at a later date.

Like DeKalb County News Now on Facebook | Follow on Twitter

In other news: