Teens plead guilty to club shooting

Tuesday, August 10, 2010
© Copyright 2013 Gwinnett Daily Post

LAWRENCEVILLE -- Two Lawrenceville teens pleaded guilty this week to opening fire in gang retaliation on a crowd of young revelers outside a club in March, striking five people, a prosecutor said Tuesday.

A Gwinnett Superior Court judge sentenced Chris Nwanjoku and Isham Clay, both 18, to five years in prison for their roles in the March 20 fracas outside the defunct VIP Club in Lawrenceville.

The co-defendants entered guilty pleas Tuesday in lieu of a trial scheduled this week, said Tana Brackin, assistant district attorney. Both had demanded speedy trials.

One juvenile was also charged in the incident. His case was resolved in juvenile court Friday, Brackin said.

All three are members of a street gang known as ABT. The shooting started during a confrontation with a member of the gang 243 in the club's parking lot, Brackin said.

A victim told the Post at the time that all five victims were teens, and that the club had been rented out that night for a teen party.

Police recovered about 40 shell casings at the scene, records showed.

The five victims included the 243 gang member and another ABT gang member who was inadvertently hit. All have since recovered, Brackin said.

Both Nwanjoku and Clay were 17 at the time. They pleaded guilty to five counts of aggravated assault, one count of criminal street gang activity and weapons possession, Brackin said.

Gwinnett Daily Post