Grand Jury Selection Challenged in Murder Case

Another delay in the murder trial of two men accused in the shooting death of Toccoa man.

The attorneys for Marqkeela Lawain Hill and William Demetrius McElveen are challenging their indictments.

Hill and McElveen are charged in the February 2016 murder of 21-year-old Tomas Colbert of Toccoa.

Both were indicted in January by a Stephens County Grand Jury on charges of Malice Murder, Felony Murder, Aggravated Assault, and Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon, along with the new charges, Conspiracy to Commit Murder and Conspiracy to Commit Aggravated Assault.

However, Mountain Judicial Circuit Assistant District Attorney Rick Bridgeman tells WNEG News, defense attorneys Brian Steel and Allyn Stockton are challenging the method used in Stephens County to select members of the Grand Jury.

Hill allegedly shot Colbert at a Falls Road apartment in the early morning hours of Feb. 7, 2016.

According to the indictment, McElveen contacted Hill by telephone and then traveled from Douglas County to Stephens County and the two met at a location in Toccoa prior to the shooting.

Shortly after the shooting, Hill sent a text message to McElveen that read, “game over.”

Colbert died later at Greenville Memorial Hospital as a result of several gunshot wounds.

Bridgeman said the hearing on grand jury selection is set for sometime in December.