KenDarious Edwards would’ve been a preschooler this year.
Instead, an ordered gang hit killed the 9-month-old four years ago as his mother, Tanyika Smith, cradled him in her arms while hiding in a bathtub.
On Tuesday, DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Gregory Adams sentenced Sex Money Murder gang leader Kenneth Jackson to life in prison plus 90 years in the May 2014 killing, DeKalb district attorney spokeswoman Yvette Jones said.
Jackson, 33, ordered the hit from his Autry State Prison cell in Pelham, Ga., in retaliation for an unauthorized shooting by fellow gang member Oslushsla Smith. Jackson, along with two other gang members — Christopher Florence and Marco Fernando Watson — were convicted in the killing last month.
Adams also sentenced Florence, 33, to life in prison plus 95 years. Neither he nor Jackson were given parole. Watson, 39, was sentenced to 10 years on weapons charges in connection with the crime.
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Credit: Family Photo/Via The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Credit: Family Photo/Via The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A fourth man, Devin Thomas, a mid-level member of Sex Money Murder and the actual triggerman, was convicted in November 2015 of killing Edwards and is serving life plus 20 years in prison in a plea deal that let him avoid the death penalty.
The sordid details of that bloody night began May 3, 2014 when Michael Phillips, 29, was fatally shot at a Stone Mountain house party where a group had gathered to watch boxer Floyd Mayweather defend his title.
That night, Bloods gang member Alexis Malone got into a fight with a woman when Tanyika Smith’s brother and Sex Money Murder member Oslushsla Smith, jumped in to help Malone and fatally shot Phillips.
Worried she had talked to police, Oslushsla Smith fatally shot Malone — an unauthorized hit that would cost him his nephew’s life. Smith was later convicted in the crime.
Credit: DeKalb County Sheriff's Office
Credit: DeKalb County Sheriff's Office
Jackson had ordered shooters to find Smith, but when they couldn’t, the gang leader ordered a hit on Smith’s mother’s To Lani Farm Road home.
Police said gang members Watson and Florence, along with Thomas, forced their way into the home of KenDarious' grandmother in the shooting.
Tanyika Smith was hit eight times in the attack while hiding in a bathtub with her son. She suffered permanent damage to her vision and sense of smell and taste when one of the bullets lodged in her face. Edwards’ grandmother and another woman visiting the home were also injured.
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