Three young adults, including two former Atlanta college basketball players, were convicted of attempted murder and gang charges in connection with a 2018 shooting, authorities said.
Naya-Michelle Hunter, 20, of Douglasville, Devin Antoin Durham, 21, of Dublin, and Jalen Dashaun Hunt, 20, of Atlanta, all received prison time after pleading guilty Monday to several felony charges, the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release.
The three plotted a robbery that ended with a man being shot eight times, the release said. Durham and Hunter were members of the men's and women's Atlanta Metropolitan State College basketball teams at the time of the shooting.
In March 2018, Hunter met a 25-year-old man at an Austell gas station to exchange phone numbers. Soon after, the man sent Hunter a picture of a large sum of cash in an attempt to impress her, prosecutors said.
On March 28, Hunter messaged him that she’d like to get together, so they met at an apartment complex near Rambling Lane, the release said. When he arrived, Hunter told him she needed to call someone to get some marijuana.
Durham and Hunt then showed up, with Hunt pulling out a gun and trying to rob the man, the release said. The victim refused, which led Hunt to shoot him once in the hand. The victim ran away but was shot seven more times by Hunt.
The wounded victim suffered gunshot wounds to his torso, arm and back, the release said. Doctors also had to remove a portion of his intestine, and prosecutors added that he does not have full function of his left leg.
Atlanta police investigators tied the three suspects to a “subset of a prominent Atlanta criminal street gang,” the release said. The gang’s name was not provided.
Durham and Hunter were arrested in April 2018, while Hunt was arrested six months later, according to Fulton County jail records.
In February 2019, Hunter was among five women charged after they allegedly assaulted two women inside the Fulton County Jail, AJC.com previously reported. Among the other suspects was LaShirley Morris, who recently pleaded guilty to beating a 3-year-old boy to death with a baseball bat as punishment for eating a cupcake.
MORE: Woman pleads guilty to fatally beating child for eating cupcake
As part of their non-negotiated guilty plea, Hunter, Durham and Hunt were convicted of criminal attempt to commit murder, participation in illegal street gang activity, criminal attempt to commit armed robbery, aggravated battery, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
During the sentencing, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Craig Schwall said, “I really don’t have any sympathy for any of you. I give out mercy every day, but we’ve got to send a message; gangs, guns, gone. You’re in a gang, you have guns, you are going to prison. That’s the message I want to send loudly and clear.”
Hunt was sentenced to 20 years in prison, while Durham and Hunter both got a decade behind bars, the release said. The three will also spend five years on probation after their prison time.
Hunter also pleaded guilty to two counts of battery and two counts of unlawful acts inside a penal institution for the jail attack, court records show. She received time served.
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