Man pleads guilty to 2013 shooting

Published 8:25 pm Wednesday, February 14, 2018

A Selma man pleaded guilty to manslaughter in Dallas County Circuit Court Tuesday in the 2013 shooting death of 22-year-old Justin Fuller.

According to Dallas County District Attorney Michael Jackson, Javontae Anderson, who was 19 at the time of the incident, pleaded guilty in Circuit Judge Marvin Wiggins courtroom and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Anderson, according to a previous Times-Journal report, was originally charged with murder. Davarius Mendenhall, who was 18 at the time, was also arrested and charged with murder.

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The incident happened on Dec. 12, 2013, around 8 p.m. on the 1400 block of Green Street and stemmed from an argument between Anderson and Mendenhall over Mendenhall’s child’s mother being pregnant with Fuller’s child.

According to an incident report from the Selma Police Department, Anderson died from two gunshot wounds, one to the right forearm and one to the chest, which was determined to be the cause of death.

The day after the shooting, Lt. Curtis Muhannad, now a former Selma police officer, said Fuller was found shot to death and with a 9mm Hi-Point handgun in his hand.

According to court documents, a witness saw Mendenhall and Fuller get into a physical altercation inside a residence on the 1400 block of Green Street. The witness told officers he went outside because he did not want to be involved in the fight. He then said Fuller left the house, as well as Mendenhall and Anderson.

The witness told officers he witnessed Anderson and Mendenhall walking toward Fuller on Green Street. He told officers he heard several gunshots and then saw Fuller laying on the ground bleeding.

Another witness told officers Fuller “threatened to light the house up and to get the kids out.”

A second interview with the first witness, led to more details. The witness told officers Fuller said he was going to “kill Mendenhall and Anderson” and went inside the residence to get a gun.

As the witness and Fuller were walking down the street, the witness said they heard a shot and saw Anderson and Mendenhall running at them.

“Webster then advised as they ran into a field area in front [of] the power grid and that is when Fuller attempted to shoot,” a court document reads. “[The witness] advised that is when Anderson ran up on Fuller and shot him in the chest area.”

The status of Mendenhall’s case is unclear at this time.