16-year-old pleads not guilty in 2023 Yamacraw Village murder case

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) -- A 16-year-old accused of committing murder at age 13 pleaded not guilty Wednesday and requested a jury trial.

Now 16-year-old Laquian Dawson is charged with killing 17-year-old Terrell Harris in Yamacraw Village in September 2023. Dawson was 13 at the time of the shooting.

Case timeline

The case was unsolved for nearly 2 and a half years, when a special indictment was presented. A grand jury indicted Dawson on charges of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony in relation to Harris’ death.

Harris died September 29th of 2023, at the hospital from his gunshot wounds.

When the case was presented to the grand jury, Dawson was already in a youth detention facility in Florida. He was brought back to Chatham County to face the charges.

Dawson has been held at the Youth Detention Center in Savannah since his arrest this year. He is being charged with murder as an adult.

Dawson appeared in court Wednesday with his public defender and pleaded not guilty, requesting a jury trial.

Second Yamacraw Village case

Dawson is also a potential suspect in another murder in Yamacraw Village, that of Desaray Gilliard. Gilliard was killed nearly a year and a half before Harris at the building next door. She was shot and left outside her building, where her mother found her.

If detectives charge Dawson in Gilliard’s death, he would have been 12 at the time she was killed.

According to Georgia law, under Georgia Code O.C.G.A. § 16-3-1, children under 13 cannot be prosecuted for a crime or held criminally responsible because they are legally presumed incapable of forming criminal intent. A 12-year-old accused of an act like murder is handled exclusively through juvenile delinquency proceedings rather than an adult criminal trial.

Her case has remained unsolved with a $15,000 reward from SPD. Local businessman O.C. Welch is offering a $10,000 reward as well.

Our previous reporting reveals Desaray was shot several times, and in the years that have passed, there are still no answers to the death of this high school freshman.

Court records reveal Dawson previously lived with his mother in Yamacraw at the time of these deaths. Yamacraw filed to evict the suspect’s family a month after Harris’ killing, according to court records.

Desaray was killed outside of building 900 on May 6th 2022. Harris was killed outside building 1000, September 29th 2023.

Dawson has not been charged in Desaray’s case in any way.

Dawson’s charges in Harris’ murder will continue in Superior Court. He is due back in court in November to set a trial date.