Durham prosecutor: Shopping center shooting was drug deal gone wrong

Monquell L. Davis, 19, of Lutz Lane, Deshario Tamaurious Mitchell, 18, of Marne Avenue, and Kadeem Rasheed Johnson, 18, of Umstead Street, each face a charge of first-degree murder in the Feb. 9 death of Brian Christopher Keys, 24, of Greensboro.

Durham County Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Bedford said Keys met the three men that afternoon in the Renaissance Center shopping center, at 6800 Fayetteville Road, to sell them marijuana but that the three showed up with guns.

Why they allegedly shot him, she said, is still unclear.

A judge set Davis' and Mitchell's bond at $2 million. Johnson's hearing has been postponed until March 18.

Davis, who also faces charges of fleeing to elude arrest and felony hit-and-run resulting in injury, allegedly drove the getaway car after Keys was shot, Bedford said.

His family was in court Wednesday to support him and ask the judge for a reasonable bond to allow him to support his pregnant girlfriend and so that he could go to church and be surrounded by the love of his family.

"Monquell is not a bad child," his father, Montgomery Davis, said. "Not the best, but far from the worst."

Montgomery Davis, however, offered no clear answer as to why his son might have been involved in Keys' shooting death other than to see he was "caught up in a bad situation."

Bedford said Keys and a friend had driven to Durham on Feb. 9 and eaten at a restaurant at Renaissance Center. At some point, Keys left his friend, telling him that he had to go "take care of something" but never returned.

The friend didn't know about the shooting, Bedford said, until he was questioned by police.