Inside Savannah’s push to prosecute gang-affiliated youth

As Georgia expands its new Gang Prosecution Unit in Savannah, questions are mounting about what “gang-affiliated” really means and how prosecutors decide who fits that label.

State and local leaders say the new unit run by Attorney General Chris Carr will help dismantle violent groups across Coastal Georgia. But Savannah criminal defense attorney Martin Hilliard argues the distinction between gang-related and gang-affiliated is often blurred, and the money poured into gang prosecution doesn’t always lead to safer communities.

Hilliard says someone who is gang-related commits a crime for the furtherance of the gang’s goals, while a person that is gang-affiliated wants to be a part of the gang or has loose connections such as friends, shared symbols or social media posts.

“You can get four kids standing on the street corner wearing a red bandana, and they say this is a member of a gang, because they call themselves similar nicknames,” Hilliard said. “That doesn’t necessarily make them a gang, but the government spends a lot of money and has a lot of money invested in grants to create these gang units.”

Georgia’s fiscal year 2026 budget documents show $268,484 will be allocated to Savannah’s Gang Prosecution Unit.

And earlier this month, Carr announced two new hires. Assistant Attorney General Brian DeBlasiis and Criminal Investigator Jacob Hesting will oversee the unit’s regional efforts in Chatham County by working with law enforcement to investigate and prosecute violent criminal gang activity.

“This new regional team will prove critical as we work to disrupt and dismantle violent criminal street gangs in every corner of our state. We won’t rest in our efforts to keep Georgians safe, and those who terrorize our communities with repeated acts of violence will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Carr said in a press release.

Since Carr rolled out the Gang Prosecution Unit across the state, it has secured 80 convictions and indicted over 140 individuals. In late-April, the unit indicited three people from Chatham County — Treyvon Howard, Rashine Edwards and Jakarie Cowell — with violating the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act.

The charges stem from two incidents involving the assault of an 18-year-old male at Frazier Homes Apartment Complex on Aug. 8, 2024 and the armed robbery and carjacking of a 44-year-old male at Oglethorpe Mall on Aug. 10, 2024.

“Gang activity has no place in this state, and those who engage in violent crime will be held accountable,” Carr said in a press release. “We’re working each day to disrupt and dismantle the growing gang networks that are terrorizing our communities, and we’re proud to be in this fight with our partners at the Savannah Police Department. We won’t hesitate to ensure the rule of law is enforced because keeping Georgians safe is our top priority.”

A person found guilty of unlawful gang activity in Georgia can be sentenced anywhere from five to 20 years in prison on top of the other charges the state alleges are in furtherance of the gang’s goals.

“Is it actually going to change anything? No.”

Hilliard, who has spent 30 years as an attorney in Savannah, said the state’s laws on gang violence do nothing to reduce the crime.

“It makes a lot of scared people feel better, but it doesn’t actually change anything. It makes you feel good, but it doesn’t change the actual crime,” he said. “A murder is still a murder. A robbery is still a robbery. Drug dealing is still drug dealing. What do you gain by putting additional penalties on it? What does it actually change?”

Many of those who could face gang-related charges, he says, are often as young as 14 to 16 years old.

“It’s a young man’s game. They get out there and they’re looking for clout, dope, money or territory. They either get it, go to prison or get killed along the way,” Hilliard said. 

In 20 years, he has seen gangs proliferate in the streets and funding for gang prosecution rise as a response — all the while, legislators have yet to get to what he thinks is the real root of the problem — lack of fathers in the home, unstable housing economics and seeing friends and family profit from committing criminal acts.

Savannah Mayor Van Johnson and Aldermen created a housing task force in 2020 to identify the city’s housing needs. Within six months of conducting research, the task force found that Savannah does not have enough quality housing available at affordable costs for a large portion of its residents.

Housing is considered affordable when rent or mortgage payments do not exceed 30% of a household’s gross income.

Over the past 30 years, the task force found housing expenses have outpaced incomes at a rate of at least 2:1, leaving 40% of Savannah households with incomes less than $50,000 annually not being able to afford quality housing.

“There are solutions to crime. Invest your money in the kids. Invest your money in the parents, and you might prevent them from becoming gang members,” Hilliard said. 

The six suspects, aged between 16 and 20 years old, thought to be involved in the July 2 shooting at the Oglethorpe Mall, were charged with unlawful gang activity in early October.

Five suspects are being tried as adults for the incident that resulted in the death of mall patron Olislene ‘Tina’ Smith who the prosecution argues had heart issues that were excaterbated by the shooting incident.

“I hope it sends a message that is why these kinds of cases are so critically important and critical to the issue of public safety. This is not just young kids beefing in the street. Lives are at danger and at risk, and everybody’s life was at danger and at risk on July 2,” Chatham County District Attorney Shalena Jones said at a press conference in late August.   

A grand jury found probable cause to charge Franklin James, 16, Dahmil Johnson, 16, Royce Haynes, 17, Jonathan Jones, 20, Theron Robbins, 20, and Aujawan Hymon, 20.

“It’s about grabbing headlines or grabbing money. Is it actually going to change anything? No. I can tell you right now it’s overcharged,” Hilliard said.

Ansley Franco is a reporter with the Savannah Morning News, covering public safety and general assignments. You can reach her at AFranco@gannett.com.