When murder died

In April 2003, a sheriff’s deputy was at Krystal, getting breakfast, and overheard two females talking about what sounded like a murder. Knowing the sheriff’s office had no such overnight reports, he called a Warner Robins police detective, which led to the females being interviewed. Within hours, the body of Robert Daughtry had been recovered from an apartment trash compactor, and within a few more hours, multiple young males were in custody for the murder of “Killer.” 

A long, horrid story made very short, Kyle Oree, a New Jersey transplant, was pretending to be a big-shot rapper and rap agent. Oree called himself “Nasty Nu” and claimed he was a friend of celebrated rapper and actor, Tupac “2Pac” Shakur. He built a following of young people by promising studio time and the camaraderie of his “Cryme” family. Mostly Oree was all talk and a constant drunk.

My victim—and when I say “my victim,” I treated my murder victims as family—was Robert Daughtry, a young man with real rap talent and a promising future. His street name was “Killer” because he just “killed it” on stage. He was good. His girlfriend was an actress and stage performer herself, but being a family newspaper, I’ll move on. Killer worked as Oree’s security in exchange for sparse studio time. 

Killer tired of Oree’s hyperbole and left the Cryme family. Oree claimed that Killer had threatened him, so he ordered four others (Marshall, Williams, Daniels, and Durham) to go get Killer and bring him to Oree. He had three guns, which he distributed to the quartet. I won’t go into the murder, but it was the most horrific death I ever dealt with. There were four main crime scenes: 1) Killer’s apartment where he was beaten, 2) a brick wall by a doctor’s office where he was beaten and shot, 3) the compactor, and 4) Oree’s apartment. The two young women yakking in the Krystal gave it away, but this Cryme family wasn’t likely to keep a secret long anyway.

Two defendants (Marshall and Daniels) pled guilty to murder, receiving life in prison, plus five years for the weapons offense. It wasn’t a deal, per se, but it worked out because Judge Lukemire would only let me try three defendants at once. I offered a plan on how the courtroom could be arranged to handle all five defendants and counsel, but he reminded me that he was the judge. He was right, of course; five would have been too unwieldy, but I wanted all five to know I was ready to try each of them, with no deals for testimony. That’s when two of them pled to the murder and weapons charges.

The trial of Oree, Durham and Williams took almost two weeks. Every State witness, and there were a bunch of them, had to go through me or Katie Lumsden, my chief assistant, on direct examination and three defense attorneys on cross examination. Thanks to WRPD, especially Capt. John Lanneau, I had a prodigious amount of physical and digital evidence. Remember, his body was recovered in a compactor. The police work was amazing. The defense attorney’s efforts were exceptional. Drew Findling (now a friend) and my former chief assistant, Jim Rockefeller, represented Oree ferociously. Althea Buafo, who passed in 2009, and Steve Holloman represented Durham and Williams, respectively, and as ferociously. It’s the way you want it. Good lawyers all around.

The jury verdict was, as I recall, swift. It was certainly just. Oree’s defenses of being too drunk to run a crime family and never having personally laid a hand on Killer, we e rejected by the jury. All three were convicted of murder, aggravated battery or assault, and weapons charges. Life-plus sentences were given and justice was served. I’ve never ranked murder cases because each one was important, but the conviction of five young men for the murder of Robert Daughtry was certainly impactful on many families and the community. The Daughtry family was, like most murder victims’ families, as nice and supportive as they could be. I am sorry for their loss, but I’m glad to have obtained justice for them.

Kelly Burke, retired attorney, former district attorney, and magistrate judge, writes about the law, rock ’n’ roll, and politics or anything that strikes him. These articles are not designed to give legal advice, but are designed to inform the public about how the law affects their daily lives. Contact Kelly at dakellyburke@gmail.com to comment on this article or suggest articles that you’d like to see, and visit his website at www.kellyrburke.com to view prior columns.

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