A Jefferson County jury is deliberating the fate of a 23-year-old man charged with capital murder in the killing of 8-year-old Royta Giles during a 2020 shootout inside the Riverchase Galleria.

Demetrius Jackson is one of three people who were charged with capital murder.

Montez Moses Miracle Coleman, 26, pleaded guilty in June to a reduced charge of reckless murder and three counts of second-degree assault for the wounding of Chateria Brant, Walter Hudson and 11-year-old Senia Escobar Farjado.

Coleman was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

King Gary Williams, 23, pleaded guilty to the same charges in October. Williams was sentenced to 25 years on the reckless murder conviction.

Prosecutors claim all three fired their guns that day and are responsible for Royta’s death and the wounding of the others, regardless of whether their bullets struck anyone.

“Everyone who shot was wrong. And everyone who is wrong is responsible,’’ said Deputy District Attorney Julie McMakin.

“On July 3, 2020, when Montez Coleman, King Williams and this defendant, Demetrius Jackson, decided to turn the Galleria mall into an urban battleground, they each made themselves responsible for injuries that occurred.”

“An 8-year-old little boy is dancing in the hall one minute and the next minute he was dead,’’ McMakin. “This defendant shot. This defendant was wrong. This defendant is responsible.”

Jackson’s lead attorney, Victor Revill, said his client was fired on first, and returned fire in self-defense. He said there’s no evidence Jackson’s bullets struck anyone.

“There’s no one piece of evidence that this man did anything but defend himself,’’ Revill said, “which we all have the right to do.”

“This man,’’ Revill said, “was put in an impossible situation.”

Thirteen shots fired

Jackson’s trial began earlier this week before Jefferson County Circuit Judge Shanta Owens. Prosecutors sought the death penalty.

The defense did not put on any witnesses. Royta’s mother, Jessica Layfield, testified Thursday, and later said she is thankful the ordeal is nearly at an end.

The jury began deliberating about noon on Friday. They deliberated until after 5 p.m. without reaching a verdict. Jurors will resume deliberations Monday morning.

Deputy District Attorneys McMakin, Shawn Allen, and Elise Driskell prosecuted. Jackson is represented by attorneys Revill, Hunter Horton and Tracy Edmond.

Royta was killed when he, his mother, stepfather and younger sisters were waiting to go into the Children’s Place to buy new outfits for the Fourth of July.

Police said Coleman, Williams and Jackson exchanged gunfire and when the shooting stopped, Royta was motionless on the mall floor, surrounded by his family.

Royta had been shot in the head and would be pronounced dead within hours.

At the time of his death, Royta had just finished the second grade at Jonesboro Elementary School in Bessemer, where he was an honor roll student and adored by his teachers and school administrators.

He loved to play video games and aspired to be a musical artist.

Police said an ongoing feud between the young men came to a head when they encountered each other inside the mall that Friday.

Coleman, according to testimony, went to the mall that Friday to buy a new shirt for a party later that night.

He met up with two of his friends, including Birmingham rapper Yaven “Big Yavo” Mauldin.

Coleman, testimony indicated, was a sort of bodyguard, or “muscle,” for Mauldin. Mauldin was not charged with any crime.

Williams and Jackson, and a group of other men, were at the mall independently. That group was coming down the escalator when the two groups encountered each other.

Coleman, police previously said, was standing at a t-shirt kiosk when someone from the opposing group “bumped into him.” Williams and some others looked at them in an aggressive manner and raised their shirts to show they had guns in their waistbands.

That, Coleman said, is when he fired one shot and fled.

According to testimony, that one shot went above the heads of the other group and lodged in the wall above Starbucks, near the mall’s second story.

Coleman was quickly taken into custody outside the mall. His backpack had a hole from where his shot was fired through it.

Williams, also a rapper, previously told police that his group was coming down the escalator when he spotted Mauldin.

The two, police said, had a previous dispute about a rap video or rap lyrics. Williams believed that a group called H2K, with which Mauldin is reportedly affiliated, had a “bounty” out on him.

Williams said he saw Coleman raise his weapon, so he returned fire. He said he shot three to four times and then ran out of the mall.

From the Galleria, Williams went to an apartment in Tarrant where he dismantled the gun and gave it to a female to “get rid of,” police said. That gun has never been recovered.

Thirteen bullets were fired that day.

Of the 12 rounds recovered at the mall, one was from Coleman’s assault-type pistol, five were from a .40-caliber pistol and six were from a .9mm handgun, according to testimony.

Though authorities said they weren’t able to recover any bullets from the victims, all of the innocent bystanders who were shot were standing behind Coleman and were in the path of the bullets fired by Jackson and Williams.

Self-defense or ‘mutual combat’?

Revill, in a passionate closing argument Friday morning, said Jackson should never have been charged.

“There was a great tragedy,’’ Revill said. “We acknowledge it. We hate that happened.”

“We do not stand here and say to you no crime occurred,’’ he said. “A crime 100 percent occurred but the person who committed that crime was not Demetrius Jackson.”

“The person who did that crime was Montez Coleman,’’ Revill said. “But for Montez Coleman’s actions, we are never here.”

Revill disputed prosecutors’ claims that everyone who shot was responsible.

“When someone dies there’s outrage, especially when it’s a child,’’ he said. “So, let’s just get everybody, regardless of whether or not they were acting in self-defense.”

Revill said video of the shooting showed Jackson was walking away from the confrontation.

“You could see his knees buckle as soon as Montez Coleman shot that tank of a gun,’’ he said.

“Not one person said Demetrius Jackson said one word,’’ he said. “All these bullets are not created equal because if Montez don’t shoot that tank of a gun, everyone walks away.”

Allen, in his sometimes-tearful closing arguments, described what happened in the mall that day as mutual combat.

In that situation, Allen said, all parties are criminally liable in the death and injuries that occurred.

“This isn’t a case about rights,’’ he said. “This is about wrong.’’

“The self-defense law is not you just get to shoot somebody and think you were acting in self-defense. That’s not how it works,’’ he said. “There are rules.”

To be justified in using deadly force, Allen said, you can’t be the aggressor, and it can’t be product of mutual combat.

“Mutual combat can be something as simple as you start taking off your earrings, I start taking off my watch. You start rolling up your sleeves, I start pulling up my pants,’’ Allen said.

“I’m sitting on “G” and waiting on “O” and all that’s got to happen is you throw the first punch and we’re going.”

“We didn’t say anything, but our body language is telling each other we’re getting ready to do,’’ he said. “That’s mutual combat.”

“In Alabama … in order to be justified in using deadly physical force, you have to be entirely free from fault,’’ Allen said.

“You’ve got to have clean hands. You can’t have done anything that contributed to the difficulty that you are now having to use deadly physical force.”

What should have happened was de-escalation rather than escalation, he said.

The video showed Montez Coleman talking as he walked down the escalator.

“He wasn’t talking to himself,’’ Allen said. “He wasn’t giving a monologue.”

A witness testified, he said, that she heard multiple people arguing.

“It was loud enough to bring her to the front of the store,’’ Allen said. “She heard somebody say, ‘On blood, on blood.’’’

Jackson, he said, wasn’t walking away. “He was waiting,’’ Allen said. “They were waiting for what was about to happen.”

“This guy stood shoulder to shoulder with King Williams like they were on the infantry line, ride or die’’ he said. “They were backing each other up. They were facing down Montez Coleman.”

Immediately after Jackson fired six shots, Allen said, “He gets the hell out of there.”

Jackson ran through Von Maur and into the parking deck.

“He could have found a police officer. He could have said, ‘Thank God you’re here, a guy with a backpack just tried to kill me and I had to shoot my gun and here it is. Thank you for being here. Thank you for saving my life.’’’

“That’s not what happened,’’ he said. “He ran away.”

Jackson was interviewed two days later and told police he wasn’t at the Galleria when the shooting happened.

“That is not something who thought they were justified would say,’’ Allen said. “That’s how you know he didn’t believe he was justified because he lied about being there, and he got rid of his gun.”

“It doesn’t matter who fired the first shot. It doesn’t matter who fired the most shots,’’ Allen said. “Each of these guys were aiding abetting whether they were on the same side or not.”

Defense attorneys, Allen said, spent all week telling jurors that Coleman was the “bad guy,” not Jackson.

“We know Montez Coleman shot one time, and he didn’t hit anybody. His bullet landed in the food court by Starbucks,’’ Allen said. “At the same time, they’re telling you (Jackson) can’t be guilty because he didn’t shoot anybody, they’re also telling you Montez Coleman is guilty, and he didn’t shoot anybody.

“What we’re telling you is everybody that shot is wrong,’’ he said. “Montez Coleman is a bad guy in this. He’s one of three actually.”

“This is not an “and/or” situation. This is an “and/and” situation,’’ Allen said. “They’re all guilty.”

“Through your verdict you’re going to tell this defendant this was not self-defense. You ‘were not justified, you were wrong, and you are responsible,’’ Allen said. “Find him guilty of capital murder for the death of Royta Giles.”