Trial set to begin for man accused of killing 8-year-old Secoriea Turner in Atlanta

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ATLANTA (AP) — A trial is set to begin Monday for a man charged with murder in the July 2020 shooting death of an 8-year-old girl who was riding in an SUV near a weekslong protest at the site where police had fatally shot a Black man weeks earlier.

Julian Conley is charged with murder, as well as aggravated assault, gun and gang-related counts, in the killing of Secoriea Turner. A second man, Jerrion McKinney, on Wednesday received a 40-year sentence, with 20 years to serve in prison after pleading guilty to aggravated assault, gun and gang-related charges in the girl's death.

Secoriea was riding in the back of a Jeep with her mother and her mother's friend on July 4, 2020, near the Wendy's restaurant where Rayshard Brooks, a 27-year-old Black man, had been killed by a white police officer weeks earlier. Protesters had been rallying against police brutality nationwide since the May 2020 murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police.

The restaurant was set ablaze the night after Brooks' death and protesters camped at the site for weeks afterward. Not far away, armed men had been occupying makeshift barricades, blocking roads and turning some drivers away. Police said the SUV Secoriea was riding in was driving near one of barricades when at least one person shot into the vehicle.

Prosecutors allege that it was Conley who fatally shot Secoriea, and they assert that both Conley and McKinney were associated with the Bloods criminal street gang. Both men had pleaded not guilty to the charges.

McKinney, who wasn't charged with murder, on Wednesday entered Alford pleas, which allows a person to maintain his innocence while acknowledging that it is in his best interest to plead guilty. He told Fulton County Superior Court Judge Rachelle Carnesale that he didn't hurt Secoriea, saying he has children and feels sorry about what happened to the girl, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

“I am not a menace to society. I am not in no gang,” McKinney said, according to the newspaper. “The picture that’s being painted of me, that’s not me.”

Charmaine Turner, Secoriea's mother, was emotional as she told the judge about the pain of losing her daughter, describing the girl as “always happy, always smiling,” the newspaper reported.

“Secoriea was my heart, one of my reasons for living,” she said in court. “My life changed forever when she was killed.”

Carnesale rejected McKinney's attorney's request for a five-year sentence, instead accepting prosecutors' recommendation. She said he would have gotten a heftier sentence if he had been the one who shot Secoriea.

Secoriea's parents filed a lawsuit in June 2021 against the city and officials. The lawsuit, which is still pending, accuses city leaders of showing negligence in failing to remove armed vigilantes who gathered at the site along with peaceful protesters, which created a dangerous situation that led to Secoriea’s death.