Marc Wilson, 23, the man at the center of an alleged racist road rage incident that left a 17-year-old girl dead on June 14, 2020, is finally out of jail on bond after spending more than a year and a half behind bars, but his fight for freedom is far from over.
“When I tell you the joy, I still have in my heart right now, there are no words to describe,” said Carey Jenkins, of a Just Georgia Coalition of Marc Wilson’s release from jail after 20 months behind bars.
On June 14, 2020, Wilson, who is biracial, was driving with his girlfriend in Statesboro, Georgia, which is about 50 miles northwest of Savannah. Wilson says as he was driving, a pickup truck with four white people inside, including Haley Hutcheson, 17, were allegedly intoxicated and taunted Wilson with racist slurs and the driver nearly drove Wilson off the road.
Wilson responded by firing his gun toward the truck, killing Hutcheson.
Wilson claimed self-defense using Georgia’s stand your ground law, but at an immunity hearing last Friday, a judge Ronald Thompson denied Wilson’s stand your ground claim.
Thompson said, “There is no evidence that defendant’s vehicle was rammed by the truck,” in a written ruling. The judge added: “Nor is there evidence that defendant’s vehicle suffered damage from gun fire or objects thrown from the truck.”
“Stand your ground is no longer part of the conversation because that is a pretrial determination so now, we’re dealing with the simple use of force and self-defense justifications listed under Georgia’s code,” said James Woodall, Public Policy Associate at the Southern Center for Human Rights.
Wilson was released from the Bulloch County Jail in Statesboro, Georgia, about 50 miles northwest of Savannah on a $100,000 bond, of which $20,000 had to be paid in cash, says Woodall. “We were able to raise a substantial amount of resources to support that family on part of the Just Georgia Coalition and family members and community members and supporters around the world,” Woodall said of the cash payment.
Woodall says race has played a key role throughout Wilson’s entire case and he also believes Wilson’s race contributed to the judge denying his request for immunity. “When the race composition is taken into account you see a very stark disparity in persons who are granted immunity for stand your ground law and those who are not,” Woodall said.
In February 2020, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights released a report on whether stand your ground laws have a racial bias. Within the report, it says homicides where the shooter is Black and the victim is white are justified about 1.2% of the time, and in cases where the shooter is white and the victim is Black, those are ruled to be justified about 11.2% of the time.
Georgia is one of eight states that requires a pretrial immunity hearing where a judge determines if stand your ground can be applied, which could then grant immunity from criminal prosecution, and if not, the defendant can use a self-defense claim.
Wilson’s case has been an arduous journey for his family and supporters because he’s been awaiting a bond hearing for more than a year. On August 18, 2020, Judge Michael Mildrew denied Wilson bond for the murder charge and aggravated assault charges. Wilson’s case became more complicated as a squabble ensued between the state prosecutor, Judge Mildrew, and Wilson’s defense attorneys.
In September, Wilson’s lawyers tried to get him immunity for the stand your ground motion, but Wilson’s defense lawyers claimed improper communication took place between state prosecutors and Judge Mildrew. Soon afterward, Wilson’s defense team pushed to get Judge Mildrew recused from the case because of the alleged improper communication and on Feb. 4, 2022, Mildrew was recused.
With Wilson’s trial scheduled to begin in April, he and his legal team must prepare their self-defense claim that left a 17-year-old dead. When asked why he did not let the alleged agitators in the truck pass him by rather than responding with gunfire, Jenkins says Wilson feared for his life.
“I believe this young man feared for his life on a dark road, I believe this young man thought they were going to kill him. Marc slowed down, he told them to stop, he did everything possible before the final shot that took that young woman’s life,” said Jenkins.
The jury selection is set to begin April 18. Wilson was not able to be interviewed as part of his bond stipulations.
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