Child tells slain mother “Mama I love you and miss you”

Kejuan and Takayuki

10 years ago today I wrote the following story for the ABH while reporting about one of the more heartbreaking cases that I have covered in my career.

By Joe Johnson

May 16 2015

Takayia White wrote this about how she feels when visiting her mother's grave:

"It is not the same and I am always longing for a response that I will never get.”

Takayia was just 8 years old when KeJuan Hall was brutally murdered more than four years ago. Now 13, she recently got a chance to say things to her mom in a victim impact statement filed last week in Clarke County Superior Court, to be read if and when her mama’s alleged killers are convicted at trial.

The statement was filed by the Western Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office, along with statements by Hall's mother and two of her brothers. The filings could indicate trial dates for Hall's killlers are getting closer to being scheduled.

Clarence McCord III and Shameeka Lashae Watson are having separate trials because antagonistic defenses have them pointing fingers at one other.

Both face the death penalty not just for allegedly murdering Hall, but also for the death of the 25-year-old victim's unborn child.

When killed, Hall was working the night shift at the Golden Pantry at Timothy Road and Atlanta Highway. Authorities believe the motive for Hall's slaying was robbery.

Several issues need to be resolved before any trials can begin, including whether statements by two witnesses who have since died can be introduced as evidence. Jeffrey Collins died eight months after Hall was killed, and Doni Carnes died last July.

According to court records, on the night of the murder in December 2010 Collins went to the Golden Pantry trying to get free beer and cigarettes from Hall. The clerk refused the man any handouts and told him to leave.

Collins later returned and when arriving heard "a ruckus, yelling and screaming" inside the store, noted the records. Upon entering the store, he saw that Hall was no longer at the counter and in her place was a heavyset woman.

When asking the woman about the noises, Collins was told, "It is OK, they are having sex or fighting" in the store's office. The woman further told Collins "something about being roommates and he thinks she may be cheating on him."

The woman followed Collins as he walked around the store, and then a man reportedly came out of the office carrying a broom and telling Collins the store was about to close. When Collins told the man he was an alcoholic and needed something to drink and some cigarettes, the man replied he would not help him to drink since he was himself in Alcoholics Anonymous, but he gave Collins a pack of cigarettes, according to records.

Collins then walked to Five Points Bottle Shop and tried to get something there, but was turned away by the manager, according to records. He returned to Golden Pantry where he saw Doni Carnes at the register, but no clerk. The store's exterior lights were turned off.

Carnes, a local self-employed painter, had gone to Golden Pantry to buy some Goody's Powder. Authorities said as Carnes yelled for the clerk, Collins went into the office and found Hall on the floor with a box over her head, noted court records. Removing the box, Collins saw a puddle of blood. He pushed the clerk and yelled at her, but got no response. He ran out of the office and told Carnes to call the police.

Athens-Clarke County police said the man in the store described by Collins was McCord and the woman was Watson.

Police said it was determined Hall was stabbed 31 times, with her wounds caused by two different weapons, possibly a knife and screwdriver. Hall also had injuries to her head, torso, arms and a broken finger. An autopsy found she was three months pregnant.

McCord and Watson weren't arrested until Feb. 9, 2011, after a tipster named them as suspects. Police said officers found the couple living out of a car parked at the University Oaks complex off West Broad Street, and evidence from the car linked McCord and Watson to Hall's death.

In a 12-count indictment returned by a Clarke County grand jury, McCord and Watson were each charged with malice murder, felony murder, feticide, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, kidnapping with bodily injury, tampering with evidence and burglary.

In his notice of intent to seek the death penalty for both defendants, District Attorney Ken Mauldin called Hall's death "outrageously or wantonly vile, horrible or inhuman in that it involved depravity of mind."

A judge later granted a request by Watson's attorneys for her to be tried separately from McCord. The respective defenses are "in conflict and antagonistic," an attorney argued in a motion, and Watson won't be able to use McCord as a witness because he "will not voluntarily appear and testify as a witness in any trial in which they are also being tried by the same jury and on the same charges.

In court documents, Watson told police after using the restroom at Golden Pantry, she came out to find McCord with blood on his hands. She also reportedly told authorities McCord confessed to her he killed Hall.

In a court filing made earlier this month, McCord asks to be allowed to introduce as evidence - either during the guilt-innocence phase of the trial or the penalty phase - previous violent acts by Watson. Had McCord not been involved with Watson in a "toxic relationship," his attorney states in a motion, "it is highly probable that (he) would have never been involved whatsoever with the events for which he has been indicted."

However the death penalty cases proceed, the words Takayia wants to be heard remain on file at the Athens-Clarke County Courthouse:

"Mama I love you and I miss you and I wouldn't trade you for anything in the world. I just wish we had more moments in life that we could have shared together."

Note: Both defendants were found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. For McCord it was without the possibility of parole.

Watson was eventually paroled but she currently is back in prison because of parole violations.