COLUMBUS, Ga. (WRBL) – Marcia Denson demanded that the judge and Muscogee County District Attorney’s Office bring the case against the five men accused of murdering her son to trial after years of excuses and delays.
“I used to be a nice, sweet woman, now I am a vicious animal because of what the courts are doing to me,” Denson told the court Tuesday morning as Feb. 7 trial date was pushed back again because the state’s case was not ready to go.
Branden Denson, 32, was shot, execution-style in the Buena Vista Road Pizza Hut parking lot on April 6, 2018.
Five men – Tyree Smith, Eric Spencer, Dover Coppins, Tommie Mullins and Johnathon Swift – are accused of shooting Denson three times.
Tuesday was the 48th time that Marcia Denson has appeared in court since her son’s death.
“It’s not fair,” she told Senior Superior Court Judge Gary McCorvey, the third judge to handle the case in four years. “I am 66-years-old and alone in this. And I am just tired of it and can’t go on much more.”
McCorvey set the case for trial on March 21, 2022. He was adamant there would be no more delays.
The trial has been delayed ten times.
“We will strike a jury beginning March 21,” McCorvey told the court.
Acting District Attorney Sheneka Terry assured Mrs. Denson and the court the DA’s office would be ready to go in March. Terry is the third DA to have the responsibility for the case. Former DA’s Julia Slater and Mark Jones also handled the case.
She told the court of a visit she got from Jones one night. She claims the then-district attorney who was convicted last year of public corruption and is currently in prison, was intoxicated when he came to her house.
“How do you think I felt with an intoxicated DA coming to my home banging on my door?” Marcia Denson said.
McCorvey responded, “There is some amount of justice in that because he’s in prison right now.”
Marcia Denson responded, “I should have never had to go through that.”
Terry, who has been the acting DA for 71 days, offered Marcia Denson her apology and a promise that she would get the case trial-ready.
“I can’t apologize enough to you for what you have had to deal with,” Terry said in open court. “But your honor, I want to assure you and assure Mrs. Denson that if this case is set on March 21st, I will be ready to go.”
None of the co-defendants appeared in court this morning for the status hearing because of COVID concerns. And their attorneys had no questions for Mrs. Denson after her testimony.
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