Dorothy Montgomery said she felt like she died when her son, Devin Montgomery, died.
“I’m not so cold-hearted that I want to see him die, this young man that took my son’s life,” she said Wednesday in the second-floor courtroom of the Lowndes County courthouse. “Death would be too good for him. But in the name of Jesus, I don’t want him to ever step foot back out on God’s green earth to ever take someone else’s life.”
The grieving mother conveyed her wishes during a statement delivered shortly after jurors convicted 20-year-old Kale Scott, of Columbus, in the death of Devin Montgomery. Scott was found guilty of first-degree murder and aggravated assault.
Jurors returned the verdict Wednesday evening after roughly two hours of deliberation.
Circuit Court Judge James Kitchens sentenced Scott to life in prison for his murder charge and added a 20-year sentence with 10 suspended, 10 to serve, for the aggravated assault charge. The sentences will run consecutively.
The charges stem from an incident in the early hours of May 23, 2014, at the Columbus Fairgrounds.
Scott and about 200 other people were at the fairgrounds for a graduation party that began at about 10:30 p.m. May 22. Two fights broke out in quick succession during the party — the first between Montgomery and Scott; the second between Montgomery and another man.
Scott fatally shot Montgomery after a security guard broke up both fights. He also shot Fredrick Smith in the leg in the process.
Devin Montgomery was the youngest of Dorothy’s three children. Though she lost her son, she said didn’t begrudge Scott’s family for his actions.
“You can raise the child, but you can’t live their life, and I do believe that he was taught right from wrong,” she said. “But he took choices into his own hands. I would like for him to understand that he cannot just cause things on his own and take someone else’s life.
“I want him to have the rest of his life to think about what he has done,” she later added.
Tensions high at courthouse
Scott’s trial concluded on a tense note Wednesday, after a fight nearly broke out outside the Lowndes County courthouse. According to court security, a group of unidentified men antagonized a witness who was waiting outside the courthouse shortly after the case was given to jurors for consideration. The men left before the situation could escalate to a fight.
Columbus Police Department, Lowndes County Sheriff’s Department and Mississippi Highway Patrol personnel closed off a block of 2nd Avenue in front of the courthouse and remained on scene through the end of the day’s proceedings. Kitchens ordered that Scott’s and Montgomery’s families leave separately after the sentencing, to prevent further tension.
Scott testifies
Scott never meant to use the gun.
That’s what he told jurors during more than an hour on the witness stand Wednesday. He said he brought the gun because he was didn’t want people picking on him.
“I didn’t bring the gun to the party to intentionally harm someone or anything like that,” Scott said. “I had no intention of using the gun that night.”
Scott admitted his fight with Montgomery went poorly. He said Montgomery pulled the shirt over his head and hit him in the head until the guard broke the fight up. Then someone else, who he couldn’t identify, hit him.
“That’s when I lost it,” Scott said. “That’s when I started shooting. I was really dazed. I didn’t know what I was doing.”
Mississippi 16th Circuit District Attorney Forrest Allgood presented the state’s case against Scott, while attorney Rod Ray presented Scott’s defense.
During closing statements, both attorneys told jurors that the cases was simple. Both said it was evident that Scott shot Montgomery. The choice for jurors to decide, came to Scott’s intent and whether he shot Montgomery in self-defense.
Ray said Scott, who admitted to being a poor fighter, rightly feared Montgomery, who faced three charges of aggravated assault before his death.
“He reacted because he wasn’t himself,” Ray said. “He reacted because he was getting beat down. It was obvious — it should’ve been obvious to you as it was to me — as he was telling it. He didn’t want to shoot that man. He didn’t want to shoot anybody. This was a 19-year-old person who was freaking out.”
Ray also noted that Montgomery initiated hostilities when he pulled Scott off of a stage to fight him, after Scott repeatedly spilled liquor on him.
“But for Devin Montgomery pulling Kale Scott of the stage and starting a fight, we wouldn’t be here,” Ray said.
During his statements, Allgood said the facts of the case worked against Ray’s claims that Scott shot Montgomery in self-defense. Montgomery suffered five gunshot wounds, some of which — like one through his forearm — Allgood said indicated he raised his arms to defend himself.
He also pointed to a shot in Montgomery’s back as evidence against a self-defense shooting.
“People who are shot in self-defense sustain their wounds in the front, because they’re attacking,” Allgood said. “He wasn’t attacking. He was trying to get away. He was trying to run.”
Allgood also took issue with Ray bringing up Montgomery’s pending charges, calling them “offensive.”
“The same law that protects me from Kale Scott and protects you from Kale Scott protected Devin Montgomery, however imperfect, on that night from Kale Scott,” Allgood said. “When you start weighing the relative value of human lives, you get on very dangerous ground. Should we say that because this one did something wrong in the past, well, he doesn’t qualify?”
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