Gang members convicted in March 2023 fatal shooting in Athens

ATLANTA — Attorney General Chris Carr announced that Anthony Brown, Glendarius Tate, and X’Zydric Faust have been convicted and sentenced to prison for their involvement in the March 5, 2023, fatal shooting of 24-year-old Ja’Vanni McDavid in Athens.

Brown, Tate and Faust are members of Everybody Killa, a hybrid criminal street gang based in Athens. EBK has ties to major national Bloods, and its primary alliance is with Everybody Eats, another hybrid criminal street gang based in Athens. Since 2021, street gang rivalry in Athens-Clarke County has resulted in several shootings and homicides, including the deaths of Ja’Vanni McDavid and 3-year-old Kyron Santino Zarco Smith.

“Those who turn a blind eye to gang activity are only allowing the problem to worsen, and the people of Athens-Clarke County deserve better,” Carr said in a news release. “Earlier this year, a 3-year-old boy was shot and killed while watching TV on his couch, and here we have a 24-year-old who lost his life in a targeted shooting in a highly populated area of town. All Georgians deserve to be safe, and we will continue working with ACCPD, GBI, and our law enforcement partners to combat violent crime in Athens and throughout our state.”

Senior Assistant Attorney General Ryan Piechocinski, who also serves as assistant chief of the Attorney General’s Gang Prosecution Unit, prosecuted the case. The Athens-Clarke County Police Department and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Gang Task Force investigated the case, with assistance from the Attorney General’s Gang Prosecution Unit.

“This ongoing partnership is crucial to successfully removing criminal street gang members from the streets of Athens-Clarke County,” ACCPD Chief Jerry Saulters said. “We will continue to work with the Georgia Attorney General’s Gang Prosecution Unit to remove violent felons from our community to ensure justice for victims and create a safe place to live and work.”

“Today’s convictions reflect our unwavering commitment to combatting gang violence and ensuring justice for victims,” GBI Director Chris Hosey said. “The collaboration between our Gang Task Force, the Attorney General’s Gang Prosecution Unit, as well as the Athens-Clarke County Police Department, demonstrates our resolve to disrupt the dangerous activities of criminal organizations in our communities.”

Since its creation in July 2022, the Gang Prosecution Unit has partnered with ACCPD to indict 21 individuals in nine separate cases. Included in this total are five shootings that have taken place in Athens between April 2022 and March 2024 – four of which were fatal.

The Attorney General’s Gang Prosecution Unit has secured 12 convictions in Athens-Clarke County so far.

On March 5, 2023, at approximately 12:15 a.m., Ja’Vanni McDavid and four of his friends left a party that was being held in the Five Points neighborhood of Athens. McDavid was driving his vehicle, and the four others were passengers. As McDavid stopped at the intersection of Northview Drive and Pinecrest Drive, a second vehicle passed through the intersection immediately next to McDavid’s vehicle.

A few seconds after passing McDavid’s vehicle, the second vehicle, without provocation, stopped and multiple occupants of that vehicle opened fire on McDavid’s vehicle. McDavid and the occupants of his vehicle, in response to being fired upon, returned fire in the direction of the second vehicle. Ballistic and trajectory evidence suggests that McDavid was mistakenly struck by the return fire of one of the occupants of his vehicle. McDavid died as a result of that injury.

Detectives with ACCPD were quickly able to recover surveillance footage of the shooting and identified the second vehicle as a white Honda Accord. With the assistance of the University of Georgia Police Department, ACCPD was able to recover surveillance footage of the vehicle traveling to and from the crime scene. The Honda ultimately ended up at the Bethel Midtown Village apartments. Surveillance footage at the apartment complex showed four individuals, armed with firearms, entering and exiting that Honda Accord.

Detectives determined that the white Honda Accord belonged to Brown. Brown was located at his home in Athens and was quickly taken into custody. A search warrant was executed on Brown’s home and a 9mm pistol was recovered, which came back as a match to ballistic evidence located at the crime scene. During a subsequent interview of Brown, he admitted to driving the Honda Accord and shooting his firearm.

Further investigation determined that the other occupants of Brown’s vehicle were Appling, Tate, and Faust. Appling and Tate were both arrested in Athens. They were interviewed and both admitted to being present in Brown’s vehicle and possessing firearms. Investigators determined that after the shooting, Faust fled to the state of Florida. With the assistance of the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, Faust was taken into custody in Seminole, Fla.

The investigation revealed that McDavid was an associate of Red Tape Gang, and the defendants were members of Everybody Killa. When the defendants saw McDavid, an associate of their rival gang, they made the decision to open fire on his vehicle.

The State of Georgia is a felony murder state. As such, and because McDavid’s death was the direct result of the defendant’s unprovoked shooting, each of them was charged with directly causing McDavid’s death.

On Sept. 16, 2024, the three defendants pleaded guilty to the following charges in Athens-Clarke County Superior Court.

Brown (aka “Nick”), 20, of Athens:

1 count of Voluntary Manslaughter

5 counts of Aggravated Assault

2 counts of Violation of the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act

1 count of Criminal Damage to Property in the First Degree

1 count of Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony

1 count of Driving While License Suspended

Brown was sentenced to 35 years, with the first 25 to be served in prison and the remainder on strict probation.

Tate (aka “Glen”), 22, of Athens:

1 count of Voluntary Manslaughter

5 counts of Aggravated Assault

2 counts of Violation of the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act

1 count of Criminal Damage to Property in the First Degree

1 count of Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony

Tate was sentenced to 35 years, with the first 25 to be served in prison and the remainder on strict probation.

Faust (aka “Sun Sun”), 17, of Athens:

1 count of Voluntary Manslaughter

5 counts of Aggravated Assault

2 counts of Violation of the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act

1 count of Criminal Damage to Property in the First Degree

1 count of Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony

Faust was sentenced to 35 years, with the first 25 to be served in prison and the remainder on strict probation.

The state’s case against Jaden Appling, 21, of Athens is ongoing.