A Macon man was sentenced to 20 years in prison Friday for a 2016 aggravated assault that led to the death of 24-year-old Tarus Fair.
According to a news release from the District Attorney’s Office, 25-year-old Quintavious Marquez Hutchings was tried Tuesday for the aggravated assault charge. Although grand jurors also indicted Hutchings on a felony murder charge, trial jurors did not find him guilty on that charge.
The release says on March 18, 2016, Hutchings went to a shot house on Cynthia Avenue where bootleg alcohol was sold. Only those 35 and older were allowed to go into the house. Hutchings, then 23, was turned away. Hutchings became angry, waved a gun in the air, and threatened to shoot people inside the house.
Just after 11:30 p.m., a man came outside and Hutchings pushed him. The man pushed back and Hutchings fell to the ground. A gun fell from Hutchings’ pants pocket. Hutchings picked up the gun and fired behind him as he ran away toward Houston Avenue. The other man, acting in self defense, returned fire and fatally shot Fair, a bystander.
Speaking after the trial, District Attorney David Cooke said, “Mr. Hutchings tried to blame others for the deadly situation he created as he sought to settle a dispute with gunfire, endangering the lives of everyone around him. But, in the end, the jury agreed that he was the only one to blame for this senseless act of violence.”
