Jamaal Mayes
A woman testified Tuesday that Jamaal Mayes told her he wanted to shoot Willie "Fathead" Bacon "five or six more times" after plugging him with a fatal shot to the chest.
General Sessions Court Judge Lila Statom bound charges of criminal homicide and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon to the Grand Jury after the testimony.
The 39-year-old victim's body was found lying partially on the sidewalk and partially on Baldwin Street near the Community Kitchen on Sunday night, Nov.
5. Police said he was dead at the scene.
The witness said she had known Mayes from a couple of prior meetings. She said that evening he banged on her door at College Hill Courts and she let him in.
She said he then detailed the murder.
The witness said Mayes told her that Bacon owed him money. He said he found out that Bacon had just gotten his check.
He said when he confronted Bacon he was told, "I'll pay when I get ready to." Mayes said the debt was over $50.
Mayes told the witness that his gun jammed or he would have fired more shots. He said he wanted to go into a wooded area nearby to test the gun to see if he could get it working again. Then, he said, he "would go finish the job."
The witness said Mayes stated that Bacon "begged me not to kill him."
The woman said Mayes pulled a small handgun out of one pocket and a shell casing from the other. He handed her the shell casing.
She said she gave him $20 and told him to go to the store. She said that was an excuse to give her time to call police. She said she first spoke with her father, then dialed 911. She said Mayes came back when she was in the process of speaking with the 911 dispatcher.
The witness said she made another excuse that she needed to help her neighbor who was having boyfriend problems. She said she told him she would be right back.
She said she went next door and asked to be able to run through the residence and out the back door. She advised the residents to lock their doors.
She said she was on the phone calling police again while running through the unit. She said officers arrived 4-5 minutes later and surrounded her residence.
She turned over to police the shell casing that was still in her pocket.
Mayes did not immediately come out of the residence. When he did after about 20 minutes he did not have the gun with him. Police found it inside.
A witness told of hearing two shots at the shooting scene and hearing Bacon cry out twice for help.
Mayes told a detective that he shot Bacon because he had a knife and was a bigger man than he is. No knife or any other weapon was found on or near the victim.
Mayes was convicted in the June 2003 murder and robbery of Charles Porter, whose body was found on railroad tracks at Shipp Avenue in Alton Park.
He had been shot once in the head and twice in the arm.
Two people who were caught with items belonging to the victim said Mayes was the shooter.
Mayes was given concurrent sentences of 12 and 15 years after pleading guilty to attempted second-degree murder and especially aggravated robbery.
Willie Bacon