Marc Wilson, a 21-year-old Black man, was reportedly out to grab a bite to eat with his girlfriend when the pair stopped at a red light beside a pickup truck carrying a group of white teens.
According to Buzzfeed News, his legal team claims that one of the teens in the truck hurled a racial slur at him. After Wilson allegedly heard a sound from a thrown object that he thought was a gunshot, he reportedly withdrew a gun and fired towards the truck, fatally shooting Haley Hutcheson, 17, in the process.
Though he’s now facing felony murder and aggravated assault charges, Wilson claims he acted in self-defense during the Statesboro, Georgia, shooting.
Marc Wilson faces murder charges for shooting one of the white teens he said attacked him.
But for some Black defendants, evidence of self-defense has not been enough to avoid a conviction. https://t.co/5OdDgphy89
— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) November 24, 2021
After pulling beside the truck in June 2020, Wilson allegedly heard one of the white teens yell the n-word at him and say, “your lives don’t matter,” likely referring to the Black Lives Matter movement. The 21-year-old also told authorities that the truck swerved in his path and that he believed he was being shot at after hearing a loud noise resulting from an object that the teens had allegedly thrown at his car.
According to Buzzfeed News, Wilson said to police after the shooting, “Me and my girlfriend were very scared that night. Everything going on in this country, I’m not going to let me and my girl get run off the road.”
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Offering a different account, the four teens in the truck that night reportedly told police that they didn’t know why they were shot at. Failing to provide a motive for the shooting, they also stated that they were at a red light and proceeded to drive when the light turned green, adding that the driver of the car beside them immediately began shooting at them.
Wilson is set to attend a trial in early 2022. If convicted, he could face a maximum sentence of life in prison and possibly the death penalty.
