CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — A man accused of murdering a 15-year-old at a New Year’s Eve party identified himself as the murderer to friends in the days after the shooting.
Landon Smith was shot to death at a home on Deering Court in Clayton County on New Year’s Eve in 2021.
Prosecutors said two gang members looking for rival gang members opened fire on a crowd of teenagers. Defendants argue that the men shot in self-defense.
On Friday, a woman who testified that she brought a rifle to the party said Davion White, one of the accused shooters, made a startling admission to her after Smith’s death.
Madison Boden took the stand and said that after having breakfast with her and two friends. White said:
“I just had breakfast with two Christians and two Christians just had breakfast with a murderer.”
Boden also explained how she ended up bringing a gun to White at the party. She said White’s co-defendant, Jhabre Wilson, told her to bring White’s Draco rifle to the party because rival gang members were there.
“He asked me to pick up a gun from our friend’s house,” Boden said.
He said White, known as DJ, grabbed the weapon when she got to the party.
Prosecutors said when White and Wilson did not find gang members, they fired multiple shots as they rode away in an SUV.
A bullet hit Smith, an innocent bystander.
Boden said that later, when she, White and two friends had breakfast, they talked about religion.
That’s when he made the comment about being a murderer. Boden said she blew the comment off.
Then, when police searched Wilson’s home and White asked her to give his weapons to a friend, a light went off.
“At that point, that’s when I realized that something was going on,” Boden said.
At that point, prosecutors said Boden began deleting messages and pictures and the state said it appears she tried to intimidate a witness.
“And did you read off to DJ over the phone the witness list in relation to this case?” Prosecutors asked her. She said yes.
Boden was charged with murder but has accepted a plea deal for testifying truthfully, something the defense said she has not done much of.
Boden said she is telling the truth now.
“They also told me if I wasn’t truthful today, I still could face life in prison as well,” she said.
Boden said prosecutors have offered her a plea deal of 20 years to serve, eight with first-offender status. The judge also admonished White and Wilson for making faces at Boden as she testified.
The judge said they were trying to intimidate her, and there would be serious consequences if that continued.