Family and friends of a teenager who died last year to gun violence gathered Saturday outside the county courthouse to protest a plea deal that, if accepted, could result in the teen who shot him serving a year to 2.5 years in jail.
Kashius Davis, a 15-year-old Center Grove High School student, was shot and killed Oct. 30 in the Foxberry Trace neighborhood, near Smith Valley and Berry roads in west Greenwood.
Family and friends said Davis, who they described as a sweet, caring boy who would do anything for his friends, was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
At the height of the Justice for Kashius rally Saturday afternoon, more than 20 people gathered in front of the Johnson County courthouse and north county annex in downtown Franklin.
Protestors cried “Justice for Kash,” “What if it was your child” and “We need a new prosecutor.” They held up signs promoting justice for Davis and a higher sentence for Marcus Salatin, the Greenwood teen who was charged with his murder.
Salatin, 16, was arrested after a brief manhunt on charges of murder and criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon. But prosecutors say new evidence and uncooperative witnesses killed their case for murder despite their best efforts. Salatin’s defense team says he was acting in self-defense.
If convicted of murder, Salatin could have faced up to 71 years in prison, but with the plea deal on the table right now, Salatin would be convicted of a Level 6 felony.
Davis was in the neighborhood with two other individuals to confront Salatin about a personal matter, according to court documents.
A 19 year old was also shot during the altercation but survived.
Neighbors called the police after they heard gunshots, and eight shell casings were found at the scene, court documents said.
Davis, the 19 year old and a 16 year old who was not injured in the shooting were still in the vehicle when Salatin opened fire, they told police. The teens did not have any guns in their possession when police arrived at the scene, according to court documents.
During the course of the investigation, it was discovered that the teens had guns in their possession and had threatened Salatin. The teens also gave multiple false statements during their depositions, which eroded their credibility as witnesses.
Those false statements and new evidence irreparably damaged the case for murder, Johnson County Prosecutor Joe Villanueva said. His office did not make the decision lightly or without exhausting all other feasible legal options, he said.
“I acknowledge this decision is unpopular, but (it is) one that will not change,” Villanueva said. “My duty is to follow the law and the evidence. When the forensic evidence and witness issues put us in the place we are today, there were many discussions within my office as to potential alternative resolutions.”
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Because Indiana law gives absolute protection to those acting in self-defense, Villanueva chose not to pursue the case further, he said. Other charges that can hold an individual accountable for a criminal act resulting in death, such as voluntary manslaughter or reckless homicide, would also be subject to a self-defense argument and would not stand up to reasonable doubt in a jury trial, he said.
“Any charges which would or could be based upon shooting into the vehicle as a criminal act would be negated by the self-defense claim. That would also include any kind of battery-related charges,” he said in a statement. “It was at that point we reached the resolution of criminal recklessness basing it upon the firing of a weapon in a residential neighborhood. There was one round which hit a nearby utility box and appears to have had no connection with shooting into the car. That allowed us to still get a felony charge against Salatin.”
If the judge accepts a plea deal for criminal recklessness this week, it will allow the prosecutor’s office to elevate future gun charges against Salatin if he is ever caught using a gun outside his home again, Villanueva said.
Still, Davis’ family and friends aren’t satisfied and think the case should continue to trial.
A one- to 2.5-year sentence for criminal recklessness is unfathomable, said Josh Wicker, a Center Grove sophomore who was Davis’ best friend. The sentence, he says, would allow Salatin to get away with killing Davis without a fight.
“We are trying to get justice because 2.5 years is not enough for killing someone who everyone loved. His family, his friends, he touched everyone. Everyone who needed help, he was there for us. To see this happen is heartbreaking for all of us,” Wicker said. “We can’t have people out here like (Salatin) who are killing people and getting away with it. That’s not right.”
Family and friends also question whether the investigation was thorough enough, based on what they know about the teens’ and Salatin’s actions prior to the shooting.
Kevin Davis, Kashius Davis’s father, said the unreliable witness testimony from the other teens shouldn’t matter. With evidence, such as security camera footage, the self-defense argument doesn’t add up, he said.
“Marcus Salatin walked up to the car and fired eight shots and seven of them hit my son in the passenger seat. My son never even rolled down the window or took his seatbelt off,” Kevin Davis said. “But for some reason, they can call it self-defense.”
Davis’s mother, Echo Poole-Davis said avoiding a trial fails the family. Throughout the rally, Poole-Davis called on passersby to remember this moment.
“The prosecutor didn’t do his job … He failed my son,” Poole-Davis said. “Nothing can be changed. What we are doing is not going to change anything. The plea agreement is a done deal. If it was his kids — and I told him this — he would have fought harder.”
If the judge accepts the plea deal at a hearing set for Friday, it would give Salatin a chance at a normal life after his sentence.
Kashius Davis, though, will never get that chance, Kevin Davis said.
“It is extremely tragic because there were two boys’ lives lost that night. But not now. With the decision that (Villanueva) made, there is only one boy whose life is lost. The other one, (Salatin), gets a chance to rehabilitate his life, to hug his parents again, to start a family. My son doesn’t get that. My son is never going to have any of that.”
Villanueva agrees there was a failure during the course of the investigation, but disagrees his office was the source of that failure, he said Monday.
“The failure came from Kashius’ two ‘friends’ who were in the vehicle that night who chose to lie under oath at deposition, refused to assist my office in obtaining relevant information from their social media accounts and then (one) refused to participate as a witness in trial,” he said.
“We acknowledge the highly emotional nature of this case, and that nothing will ever bring Kashius Davis back. However, prosecution must be based on facts and law and not emotion. We went forward with what we had left in an effort to hold Marcus Salatin accountable to the extent the facts and evidence allowed.”
The judge will also decide Friday whether Salatin should be sentenced as an adult or a juvenile.
