Claims he shot his ex-girlfriend in self-defense
An Eatonton man who was arrested for shooting two people at a Labor Day party in Sparta in 2019 was acquitted by a Hancock County jury recently.
Darius J. Reaves was 18 at the time of the incident and his arrest. He was arrested in the wee hours of the morning at his home in Eatonton by authorities with Eatonton Police Department, Hancock County Sheriff’s Office and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation on charges of aggravated assault in connection with the shooting.
The shooting took place at a party on Liberty Drive in Sparta, according to a press release from the GBI Region 6 office at the time. The victims, a 16-year-old woman of Eatonton and 33-year-old man of Siloam, received non-life-threatening injuries when they were shot by Reaves. The female was Reaves’ ex-girlfriend.
The two victims were discovered during a traffic stop by a Sparta police officer. The two were in the stopped vehicle along with other people, who told the officer about the shooting and identified Reaves as the shooter. The victims were taken to a hospital in Macon for treatment.
The bullet wound caused the ex-girlfriend to be blinded in one eye and partially blinded in the other eye. Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit Assistant District Attorney Faith Worley said Reaves and the female dated for about seven months and ended their relationship two to three months before the shooting.
The trial was held in Hancock County Superior Court with Chief Judge Brenda H. Trammell presiding. Reaves, who was represented by prominent defense attorney Bruce Harvey, claimed the shooting was in self-defense, according to Worley. She said Reaves got on the witness stand and testified that his ex-girlfriend walked into the party and peppersprayed him in the face.
Reaves said he hadtaken a gun to the party for protection – a Ruger 9mm pistol that he had taken from his father’s nightstand.
When his ex-girlfriend pepper-sprayed him, he pointed the gun at her. Reaves testified that he thought he heard someone else cock a gun, so he fired his gun at the female. The bullet struck the left side of her face and exited through her right eye. Upon its exit, the bullet struck the Siloam man. Worley said Reaves asserted the shooting happened “in the heat of the moment.”
Jurors deliberated about one hour and a half before returning with a not guilty verdict on all counts – aggravated assault, aggravated battery and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.