Blood for Blood: Possible gang war retribution links 3 Macon homicides

Two years ago this month, Amond Norwood was found dead. Then, one year and a week later, one of his alleged killers, Damian Felton, was killed hours after he got out of jail. Two days after that, someone gunned down Norwood's half-brother, Ormondo Cortez Clark.

Investigators say these three murders may have been retaliation--an attempt to even the score--all connected by gangs and family ties.

To explain this story, we have to go back to May 7, 2021.

"I saw an arm sticking under a mattress," said Willie Marshall. Marshall was walking along Churchill Street at the edge of the Unionville neighborhood when he found the body of 26-year-old Amond Norwood.

His body was underneath a mattress in an illegal dumpsite.

"People with so little regard for human life or a human being to kill them and put them in the side of the road near a rubbish dump like this," Bibb County Sheriff David Davis said on the scene. 

His body was left partially burned along with an ankle monitor still attached to him. He had bailed out of jail three months before. 

But while investigators collected evidence and news reporters, including myself, were with the sheriff at the scene-- gunfire.

"We were getting ready to do an interview and the man pulled up... and he got out of a white Dodge Charger," Davis said. 

According to a report written by a deputy closer to the shooter, the man yelled the words, "it's Hell or jail" repeatedly. 

"Did investigators ever find out who that was at that shooting?" Webb asked. 

"No, we've had some tips on who it was, but we haven't been able to drive it down specifically as to who that individual was, and we don't particularly know whose team he was on," Davis said. 

But investigators do know who was on the other team--the ones involved in Norwood's murder.

Deputies arrested 28-year-old Jerome Beasley, 45-year-old Margaton Dudley, and 26-year-old Damian Felton.

Court records say Felton was playing dice with Norwood at a shot house when a fight broke out, and Beasley allegedly shot Norwood. 

The three then allegedly tried to burn his body and placed it under the mattress.

Damian Felton spent a year in the Bibb County jail until Friday, May 13, 2022.

According to court records, a judge granted bond, and he bailed out at 10:41 p.m. after posting over $82,000. 

Less than 12 hours later, on May 14, Felton was standing in the front yard of his home on Harold Street when someone shot and killed him.

"Who do you think killed Felton?" Webb asked the Sheriff. 

"We may have some ideas. We hear things in the streets... but not enough to make an arrest. But whoever shot him, knew where he was. That was a targeted attack," Davis said. 

Court records say Felton belonged to Macon's Gangster Disciples gang, and Norwood, the man he was accused of killing, was a member of a rival gang, Macon's Mafia. 

"We heard through word on the street there was going to be retaliation, and that's what took place," Davis said. 

Two days later, on May 16, while Bibb investigators were still processing evidence in Felton's killing, four or five men were seen chasing Norwood's half-brother, Ormondo Cortez Clark, down Ibex Street. 

The Bibb County report says witnesses saw the men "firing shots from both sides of the street" at him. Clark died there.

The shooters got away and still haven't been caught.

Investigators say they don't believe Clark was part of a gang. He was just a relative of Amond Norwood, but Sheriff Davis says investigators believe his death could have been gangs trying to "even the score" after Felton's death.

"I think you can speculate there's connection, within two days after Mr. Felton loses his life, someone connected to Mr. Norwood loses their life," Davis said. "The climate of these individuals the people they run with, the types of activities they're involved in, leads us to believe it's 'get-backs.' 'You get this one. I get that one.'"

In Felton's case, investigators question whether Felton's death was "street justice" for Norwood's murder.

"It's sad it causes us to have one more homicide to investigate. These individuals affiliate themselves with these groups and these circumstances, they're dying to become part of some group, and sometimes, they get their wish," Davis said. 

Felton and Clark's murders are still unsolved, but the sheriff says they remain open investigations.

The two surviving suspects in Norwood's case are indicted and awaiting trial. According to court and jail records, both are out on bond.       

Debbie Clark, Ormondo Clark's grandmother, says there's now a reward for information in her grandson's case. If you have any information, call Macon Regional Crimestoppers at 1 (877) 68-CRIME.         

Timeline

May 7, 2021: Amond Rashad Norwood found dead under mattress about 9:30 a.m..

May 7, 2021: Unknown man shoots near investigators, news crew around 11 a.m.

May 13, 2022: One of Amond Norwood's alleged killers, Damian Felton, released from Bibb County Jail at 10:41 p.m., after posting over $82,000 in bond.

May 14, 2022: Macon murder suspect Damian Felton was shot and killed at his home, hours after he was released from jail.

May 16, 2022: Ormondo Cortez Clark, Norwood's half-brother, gunned down in the middle of Ibex Street.