4 of the 6 men charged in Oglethorpe Mall shooting appear in court

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - Four of the six young men charged in the Oglethorpe Mall shooting appeared in court Tuesday, with a judge deciding whether their charges will stick.

Judge Crystal Harmon ruled that the charges against four of the six accused Oglethorpe mall shooters will stand- meaning the case will be sent to a higher court for trial.

Tuesday afternoon, Theron Robbins, Jonathan Jones, Franklin James, and Royce Haynes all appeared in court for what’s known as a probable cause hearing.

That’s a hearing in which a judge decides whether there’s sufficient evidence to send a case to trial.

The four young men are all facing various gun and aggravated assault charges, and some are facing murder charges in connection to the death of Olislene Smith, who died from heart complications she suffered when running from the shooting.

“As she was coming out of the doors of the food court, she stumbled and fell,” said Detective Jessica Kruwel, Savannah Police Department. “On the videos you can see her trying to stand up multiple times. She was unable to, and ends up crawling into the bushes on the left hand side of the doors where she attempted to, I suppose, hide.”

Detective Jessica Kruwel testified that Smith fell when trying to run from the shooting and was trampled by others.

She quoted the medical examiner’s report on the stand.

“I quote, ‘The decendent’s terminal collapse, cardiac disrythmia, and her death are directly related to the sudden physiological stress she experienced while fleeing from an active shooting, and presumably fearing for her life. Because of this, the manner of death is best classified as a homicide’,” said Kruwel.

District Attorney Shalena Cook Jones says she was glad the judge ruled that charge will go to trial.

“There’s been a lot of speculation since July 2nd about whether it caused the death and whether we could connect the two, so we felt like that was a strong piece of evidence and we’re going to cultivate that into the trial,” said Jones.

Two of the suspects did not appear in court Tuesday- one of them being Dahmil Johnson, who wasn’t present because he wasn’t taken from jail to the courthouse to appear.

His hearing has been pushed to September.