Pair of suspected Cobb County gang members convicted of New Year’ Eve murder of teen

Two suspected gang members from Cobb County, Davion White and Jhabre Wilson, were convicted of murder Friday for shooting up a New Year’s Eve party in Douglasville in 2021 which resulted in the death of a 15-year-old bystander, Landon Smith.

White, 21, and Wilson, 19, were found guilty on several counts, including malice murder, felony murder and violating Georgia’s Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act.

Authorities linked White, Wilson and Boden to the 2Solid gang, which is nationally affiliated with the Bloods. References to the 2Solid gang have appeared in multiple indictments around the metro Atlanta area in recent years.

Accusations involving the gang include a drive-by shooting and a murder, both in the Marietta area.

In a statement, Douglas County District Attorney Dalia Racine said White’s girlfriend at the time, Madison Boden, testified against both defendants at their trial. Boden previously pleaded guilty to her involvement in the killing.

Smith was a Douglas County High School student who was attending the party.

According to Douglas County District Attorney Dalia Racine, Wilson and White went to the New Year’s Eve party in search of a rival gang member.

The two walked through the Deering Court home, which had been rented for the party, wearing masks and brandishing guns. The two defendants searched the party for more than an hour and never found the rival gang member, Racine said.

They initiated a confrontation with other partygoers and as they were driven away from the party, both fired at the house and the crowd of teenagers. One of Wilson’s 9mm bullets struck Smith in the head, who was was inside the house at the time. When police arrived, they found more than 50 people at the house, most of them teens.

Smith was already dead from his head wound. Police took witness statements and obtained videos from two homes in the neighborhood that captured the shooting.

The pivotal videos showed White and Wilson initiating the gunfire. Three weeks later, police announced that Wilson had been arrested in Oklahoma, along with two other teenagers who were taken into custody in the metro area. White turned himself in the next night at the Douglas jail.

Two other suspects, Zorree Peeples and Karea Cowvins, faced multiple counts, but were not charged with murder.

Racine said, “Landon would have been a senior in high school this year. All of his hopes, dreams, and promise are gone based on the irrational and fatal decision by these defendants to enhance a worthless gang status.”

Wilson and White’s sentencing hearing has not been scheduled. The two have remained in jail since their arrests.