Carr Secures Fourth Conviction in March 2023 Fatal Shooting in Five Points Neighborhood in Athens

ATLANTA, GA – Attorney General Chris Carr today announced that Jaden Appling, 21, of Athens, has been convicted and sentenced to prison for his involvement in the March 5, 2023, fatal shooting of 24-year-old Ja’Vanni McDavid in Athens, Georgia. Appling is the fourth individual to be convicted in this case after his three co-defendants – Anthony Brown, Glendarius Tate, and X’Zydric Faust – entered guilty pleas in September 2024. 

All four are members of Everybody Killa (EBK), a hybrid criminal street gang based in Athens. EBK has ties to major national Bloods and its primary alliance is with Everybody Eats (EBE), another hybrid criminal street gang based in Athens. Both Everybody Killa (EBK) and Everybody Eats (EBE) are engaged in a violent feud with Red Tape Gang (RTG), another hybrid criminal street gang based in Athens. Since 2021, the rivalry between EBK/EBE and RTG has resulted in several shootings and homicides throughout Athens-Clarke County, including the deaths of Ja’Vanni McDavid and three-year-old Kyron Santino Zarco Smith.

“Since partnering with ACCPD two years ago, we have successfully prosecuted repeat offenders, addressed an ongoing gang conflict in the area, and secured justice for those who have lost their lives or their loved ones due to gang violence,” said Carr. “All Georgians deserve to feel safe in their communities, and we’re fighting each day to ensure that’s a reality. With each new conviction, we will continue to send a strong message that gang activity of any kind will not be tolerated in our state.” 

Senior Assistant Attorney General Ryan Piechocinski, who also serves as Assistant Chief of the Attorney General’s Gang Prosecution Unit, prosecuted the case. The Athens-Clarke County Police Department (ACCPD) and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s (GBI) Gang Task Force investigated the case, with assistance from the Attorney General’s Gang Prosecution Unit.

“The Athens-Clarke County Police Department appreciates the Attorney General’s Gang Prosecution Unit and their dedication to holding criminals accountable for their actions,” said ACCPD Chief Jerry Saulters. “Our agency remains committed to keeping our community safe, and I would like to offer my sympathy for those families who are affected by such heinous crimes.”

Since its creation in July 2022, Carr’s Gang Prosecution Unit has partnered with ACCPD to indict 24 individuals, with 13 convictions secured so far and the remaining cases still pending trial. According to ACCPD crime data, shooting incidents in Athens-Clarke County decreased by 22 percent in 2023 and 30 percent just last year.

“Today’s conviction reflects our unwavering commitment to combatting gang violence and ensuring justice for victims,” said GBI Director Chris Hosey. “The collaboration between our Gang Task Force, the Attorney General’s Gang Prosecution Unit, as well as the Athens-Clarke County Police Department, demonstrates our resolve to disrupt the dangerous activities of criminal organizations in our communities.”

Case Summary

On March 5, 2023, at approximately 12:15 a.m., Ja’Vanni McDavid and four of his friends left a party that was being held in the Five Points neighborhood of Athens. McDavid was driving his vehicle, and the four others were passengers. As McDavid stopped at the intersection of Northview Drive and Pinecrest Drive, a second vehicle passed through the intersection immediately next to McDavid’s vehicle. A few seconds after passing McDavid’s vehicle, the second vehicle, without provocation, stopped and multiple occupants of that vehicle opened fire on McDavid’s vehicle. McDavid and the occupants of his vehicle, in response to being fired upon, returned fire in the direction of the second vehicle. Ballistic and trajectory evidence suggests that McDavid was mistakenly struck by the return fire of one of the occupants of his vehicle. McDavid died as a result of that injury.

Detectives with ACCPD were quickly able to recover surveillance footage of the shooting and identified the second vehicle as a white Honda Accord. With the assistance of the University of Georgia Police Department, ACCPD was able to recover surveillance footage of the vehicle traveling to and from the crime scene. The Honda ultimately ended up at the Bethel Midtown Village apartments. Surveillance footage at the apartment complex showed four individuals, armed with firearms, entering and exiting that Honda Accord.

Detectives determined that the white Honda Accord belonged to Anthony Brown. Brown was located at his home in Athens and was quickly taken into custody. A search warrant was executed on Brown’s home and a 9mm pistol was recovered, which came back as a match to ballistic evidence located at the crime scene. During a subsequent interview of Brown, he admitted to driving the Honda Accord and shooting his firearm.

Further investigation determined that the other occupants of Brown’s vehicle were Jaden Appling, Glendarius Tate, and X’Zydric Faust. Appling and Tate were both arrested in Athens. They were interviewed and both admitted to being present in Brown’s vehicle and possessing firearms. Investigators determined that after the shooting, Faust fled to the State of Florida. With the assistance of the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, Faust was taken into custody in Seminole, Florida.

The investigation revealed that McDavid was an associate of Red Tape Gang (RTG) and the defendants were members of Everybody Killa (EBK). When the defendants saw McDavid, an associate of their rival gang, they made the decision to open fire on his vehicle.

The State of Georgia is a Felony Murder State. As such, and because Ja’Vanni McDavid’s death was the direct result of the defendant’s unprovoked shooting, each of them was charged with directly causing McDavid’s death.

Conviction and Sentence

On Jan. 15, 2025, Jaden Appling pleaded guilty to the following charges in Athens-Clarke County Superior Court:

• 1 count of Voluntary Manslaughter  
• 5 counts of Aggravated Assault  
• 2 counts of Violation of the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act   
• 1 count of Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony
• 1 count of Criminal Damage to Property in the First Degree

Appling was sentenced to 35 years, with the first 20 to be served in prison and the remainder on strict probation.  

About the Attorney General’s Gang Prosecution Unit

In 2022, with the support of Governor Brian Kemp and members of the General Assembly, Attorney General Chris Carr created Georgia’s first statewide Gang Prosecution Unit.  

Since it began its historic work on July 1, 2022, the Gang Prosecution Unit has secured 53 convictions overall and indicted more than 140 individuals in Athens-Clarke, Barrow, Bryan, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Dougherty, Fulton, Gwinnett, Laurens, Muscogee, Richmond and Thomas counties.   

Carr’s Gang Prosecution Unit is based in Atlanta, with regional, satellite prosecutors and investigators in Albany, Augusta, Columbus, Macon and Southeast Georgia.    

The Gang Prosecution Unit is housed in the Attorney General’s Prosecution Division, which also includes Carr’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit, his White Collar and Cyber Crime Unit, and his Organized Retail Crime Unit.