Teen testifies against fellow gang member in murder trial

Kim Smith

Friday, May 31, 2002 | 9:52 a.m.

A North Las Vegas teen who was 15 years old when he was charged with murder last year took the stand Thursday against a fellow gang member on trial for the slaying.

Anthony "Wacky G" Gantt, now 17, told jurors that Laoloni Morrison was one of five or six men who opened fire on Joseph "Doughboy" Williams March 3, 2001.

Williams was struck 16 times and died outside the Buena Vista Springs apartments in the 2500 block of Morton Avenue West Carey Avenue and Martin Luther King Boulevard.

Gantt was the first witness to take the stand in Morrison's trial.

The teenager, who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder, told jurors that the group of men had originally intended to shoot up a house inhabited by rival gang members when they saw Williams come out of an apartment.

When asked by Deputy District Attorney Melisa De La Garza why they wanted to shoot up the house, Gantt said, " 'Cause we were feuding with them.' "

When asked why, he simply said because the occupants belonged to another gang.

When Williams came out of the apartment, Ashley "Face" Bennett, 27, alerted the group that Williams was a member of that rival gang, Gantt said.

"Everybody emptied their clip on Doughboy," Gantt said.

Gantt said "everybody" included him, Bennett, Morrison, Louis "Chew-Wak" Matthews, 20, Jermaine "Wing" Webb, 17, and Antwan Lamong "T-Wak" Graves, 22.

Another man, whom he identified only as "Henry," may have also shot at Williams because he could feel the bullets fly past his head toward Williams, Gantt said. Everyone else was in front of him.

After the shooting, Gantt said he and a friend ran through a park to another friend's house and watched police over the next two hours as they investigated.

The charges against Matthews, Webb and Graves were eventually dismissed when another witness to the shooting, Pamela Neal, said she couldn't be sure they fired weapons. "Henry" was never charged.

Bennett, 28, was found guilty in February of first-degree murder with use of a deadly weapon. He faces two consecutive life sentences with or without the possibility of parole, or a fixed term of 50 to 100 years in prison.

Gantt faces a 10-year to life sentence plus a two to 10-year sentence that could be served concurrently or consecutively, depending upon District Judge Michael Douglas' ruling.

Both men will be sentenced after Morrison's trial.

Defense attorney David Schieck tried to cast doubt on Gantt's credibility, pointing to inconsistencies between Gantt's statements to police and his testimony on the stand.