Middletown teen indicted for gang-related fatal shooting

A 16-year-old Middletown teen has been indicted by a grand jury for murder.

Gonnii White was indicted Wednesday for murder with the specifications that he used a firearm and was participating in a gang at the time of the shooting death of Joesph Davis, 17, near the corner of Woodlawn Avenue and Garfield Street during the late night hours of May 29.

The indictment comes one month after the teen’s case was bound over to Butler County Common Pleas Court by Juvenile Court Judge Kathleen Romans.

White is scheduled to be arraigned Sept. 11 in Judge Noah Powers II’s courtroom.

Middletown Police Detective Kristi Hughes, who was at the fatal shooting scene, testified during a previous hearing that Davis was shot four times — in the neck, thigh, shoulder and buttocks.

During questioning, Hughes said White admitted to shooting Davis.

“He (White) did state he was the one who shot Mr. Davis,” Hughes said. “He stated when he saw Mr. Davis, he thought he was reaching for a gun and began shooting.”

Hughes testified that she is trained in the investigation of gangs. She said she was able to determine White is a regional member of a Crips gang called the Roadrunners.

White’s Facebook page and his cell phone contained images of him making gang signs, wearing blue (the Crips color) as well as Crips quotes and the Crips prayer, Hughes said.

Davis was a member of a rival gang, the Bloods, according to the detective.

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