ATLANTA — A graduate student is accused of shooting and injuring a driver during a road rage incident, but his attorney says he’s innocent and they have evidence to prove it.
The family of 32-year-old Ladavious McNair still can’t believe the accusation.
McNair is pursuing a PhD at Clark Atlanta University.
But instead of writing papers and studying for exams, the Army veteran is stuck behind bars.
He was denied bond after Atlanta police arrested and charged him earlier this month in connection to a 2023 shooting.
The shooting victim told police that he and McNair were involved in a minor accident.
He told police that when they stopped at Metropolitan Parkway and Ralph David Boulevard, McNair got out of his car, pistol-whipped him, and then shot him in the leg.
McNair’s attorney, Marsha Mignott, denies those allegations.
She said there’s no way McNair could have been involved because when the shooting happened, he was about a mile away sitting in a class at Clark Atlanta University.
But Atlanta police investigators say they have video evidence.
Mignott said that she has reviewed the arrest affidavits and believes that her client and the actual shooter have the same name, drive a similar Infiniti, and are from the same town in North Carolina.
She also said that the victim was shown a photo lineup, but was unable to identify a suspect until this past summer.
“He goes on social media and I guess he’s looking for the person he thinks is the suspect based on my client’s name and then he picks that,” Mignott said.
Seiden contacted Atlanta police and a spokesperson sent the following statement: “We are not in a position to try this case in the media. The arrestee has the right to a fair trial and is considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.”
Mignott said she has contacted the District Attorney’s office and even tried talking to a judge to see if she can get an emergency bond hearing for McNair. She said at this point, she is going to have to wait for the preliminary hearing scheduled for Oct. 28.
Channel 2 Action News has requested a copy of the surveillance video of the incident as well as the body camera videos but our request was denied because the investigation is ongoing.