Atlanta

Suspected gang member accused of killing a father outside country club testifies in his own defense

ATLANTA — The teen accused of killing a father as he left a wedding says he was nowhere near the location of the shooting.

Restaurant manager Christian Broder was shot outside the Capital City Country Club as he and his group waited on an Uber in July 2018.

Channel 2′s Tom Jones was the only TV reporter in the courtroom as the teen took the stand in his own defense.

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Jayden Myrick’s attorney initially asked the Fulton County Superior Court Judge Rachelle Carnesale to not allow Channel 2 Action News to record his testimony.

The judge denied that request.

That’s when Myrick took the stand. We then heard defense attorney Overton Thierry ask Myrick if he had anything to do with the deadly shooting. “Did you go to Buckhead and take part in a murder?” Thierry asked. Myrick replied: “No. I’ve never been to Buckhead. Never been into Buckhead Capital Drive.”

Thierry continued to question Myrick about what happened that night. “Did you go there to participate in an aggravated battery?” Thierry asked. “No sir,” Myrick responded.

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Myrick testified he was at the Hickory Park Apartments in College Park with a friend that night. He said he was captured on video about 4 hours after the shooting at a Walmart in Morrow because the people he was with picked him up hours after the deadly shooting. Myrick says he planned to buy some tires from his friends but needed tools. “Went inside the Walmart and we were looking for the little things to take off you know the little screws to take off the tires,” he testified.

Two of the people in the car with him testified Myrick robbed Broder and the group he was with then fired a shot, hitting and killing Broder. Broder had left a wedding and was waiting on an Uber. Myrick’s cohorts said they went to the Walmart after the shooting.

Myrick said there was a reason they pointed the finger at him. “First they are best friends. Second, they know what happened that night and like they came here to testify they wanted lenient time they came here and testified to get lenient time,” he said.

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Myrick insisted he had nothing to do with the shooting. “I wasn’t worried cause it wasn’t me,” he testified.

The prosecution was preparing to cross examine Myrick when Jones left the courtroom. They no doubt will ask Myrick why his two codefendants said he gave them money from the robbery.

The jury is expected to start deliberation after closing arguments Wednesday.

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