Attempted murder charges filed

Published 1:50 am Friday, November 9, 2018

Teen was involved in August drive-by shooting

The Andalusia Police Department has made the final arrest in a drive-by-type shooting incident that occurred on  Oak Street August 11.

Washington was charged with three counts of attempted murder.

After a months-long  investigation by the APD, Javontae Washington, 17, of Mississippi was charged Wednesday with three counts of attempted murder and three counts of discharging a firearm into an occupied building, Washington is held on a $630,000 bond in the Covington County jail.

According to testimony in an October hearing related to the case, a botched drug transaction on Aug. 11 led to the shooting.

Washington, two other men and two women traveled from Mississippi to Andalusia. While in Andalusia, they tried to purchase marijuana, Investigator Cody Warren testified last month. Washington and his friends were robbed and gunfire was exchanged.

After the robbery, Washington and his friends went back to their car. He then pulled out an AR-15 from the trunk, rode back to where the first altercation took place, and started shooting at the people who allegedly robbed them.

Testimony indicated an Oak Street home was hit at least three times by the AR-15 shots.

Warren, who was the lead investigator in the case, said that they were able to make all of the arrests due to intense investigation.

“Washington was the primary shooter in the Oak Street drive by shooting,” Warren said. “We worked with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department in Mississippi. He will be charged as an adult because these charges are class A felonies.”

With this arrest, Warren said that they have made all of the arrests in the Oak Street shooting.

“I am glad that this can be over and we were able to get this done,” Warren said. “We have to let people know that we can’t be tolerating these types of actions in Andalusia.”

Santonio Davis, 18, of Moss Point, Miss., was also arrested and charged with three counts of attempted murder and three counts of shooting into an occupied dwelling, in August.