COLUMBUS, Ga. (WRBL) — A man accused of shooting another Columbus man to death at a party in 2016 is on trial for murder in Muscogee County Superior Court. 

Drevon Quantez Johnson, 28, is accused of killing Richard Collier, 23, nearly five years ago at a residence on Hodges Drive.

It is the first murder case that new Muscogee County District Attorney Mark Jones has handled murder since taking office this year. This is only the second murder trial in Columbus since a year-long COVID-19 moratorium was lifted last month. 

Testimony from Collier’s then-girlfriend Janie Reynolds this morning indicated the shooting came during an altercation at the late-night party on March 14, 2016.

She described a scene in which Collier was trying to break up a fight between two women when the altercation expanded. One of the party-goes then punched the girlfriend in the face and knocked her out, she told the jury.

As she was falling backward, she testified under questioning from Jones, that she heard a gunshot.

Drevon Johnson’s attorney Anthony L. Johnson has raised the defense that his client was at the party with three other men and his client was not the shooter.

The trial recessed for lunch and is scheduled to resume Wednesday afternoon. Attorneys expect the trial to last at least the remainder of the week.