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J.D. Sumner
ALBANY - With tears flowing and surrounded by sheriff's deputies and bailiffs, 22-year-old Montrell Mallard was sentenced to spend the next 29 years in state prison for his role in a September 2007 gang shooting that nearly cost a Monroe High School student his life.
Painted by prosecutors as a cold and calculating member of an Albany street gang, Mallard pleaded guilty to an aggravated assault charge and gang participation charge relating to the incident that left Williams shot six times, including once in the head.
"By all accounts Montrell Mallard and Kentrell Reed were out just looking to exact revenge the next random person they saw," prosecutor Matt Breedon said. "That person was Dearious Williams."
Reed pleaded guilty and was sentenced to more than 30 years in prison last week. Prosecutors say he pulled the trigger, but that Mallard was also responsible because he knew the intent of the crime and did nothing to stop it or to alert authorities.
During his sentencing hearing Wednesday morning, defense attorney Terry Marlowe challenged Breedon's version of the facts, urging the court to consider that many of the points Breedon had made would have been disputed had the issue gone to trial.
Marlowe and Mallard maintain that he believed Reed was looking for a fist fight, not a gunfight, when they found Williams that night.
Several of Mallard's relatives and friends gave testimony hoping to reduce his punishment.
Mallard's mother, Sharon Mallard, pleaded for leniency for her son, saying that a prison term would create a rift between him and his family.
"He's really a good boy," she said, wiping away tears. "It's going to hurt him to see his daddy and and not be able to touch him."
Superior Court Judge Denise Marshall was not moved, telling Mallard that while he didn't pull the trigger, his association with a known street gang indelibly linked him to the crime.
"If you can walk step by step with someone during a crime, you can walk step by step with them to prison," Marshall said. "... Mr. Mallard chose a gang over his friends and family ... this is was the choice that he made."
During the hearing, Breedon said that the shooting was retaliation for an earlier show of disrespect from a rival street gang. According to Breedon, members of the CME Rattlers' street gang flashed a gun at Mallard and Reed's gang prompting them to cruise the streets looking for a random target.
Dougherty District Attorney Greg Edwards said he hopes Mallard and Reed serve as an example to those considering gang life and who have already made the decision to be a part of street gangs.
"Fundamentally, we tell people that gang life ends one of two ways: in jail time or in death, and that it's ultimately the choice of the individual as to which path they take," he said. "Society will not tolerate street gang activity and I hope these men stand as an example to those still out there as to what can happen."
Edwards' comments come on the heels of not just the Reed's and Mallard's sentencings, but also the death of 21-year-old Christopher Childress whom Edwards has said was a member of the Bloods street gang.
Childress was killed Aug. 1 during what has been labeled an attempted robbery at 202 N. Madison St. Childress was shot as police say he tried to rob 23-year-old Michael Parrish. Parrish's roommate, 22-year-old Reginald Wilson, shot Childress with a .40-caliber handgun in what has been deemed an act of self-defense.
Childress' family has refuted claims that he had ties to the Bloods' street gang, although he was wearing their trademark red bandanna and had links to the national organization back in San Antonio, Texas.
Childress' was the second gang member killed this year. Reginald Richardson, 33, was killed in June during a "beat-in" initiation to the Black Gangsta Disciples street gang. At least nine people have been arrested in connection with that case, including the man who prosecutors believe is the head of the organization.
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