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Suspected gang members go on trial in Lake Wylie couple's 2014 killing

By Mark Becker, wsoctv.com
By Mark Becker, wsoctv.com

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Jury selection for three members of the United Blood Nation is set to begin Thursday in federal court in Charlotte.

Randall Hankins, Ahkeem McDonald and Nana Adoma are charged with conspiracy and are accused of having ties to three murders in the Charlotte area in 2013 and 2014.

[IMAGES: Scene of Lake Wylie double homicide from Chopper 9]

Prosecutors said Hankins provided the gun that was used to kill Doug and Debbie London at their home on Lake Wylie in 2014.

McDonald and Adoma were allegedly part of the conspiracy in the murder of a suspected gang informant in 2013, according to court documents. All three could face life in prison if they are convicted.

On Monday, Hankins’ attorneys had asked for a delay because they said they didn’t receive critical DNA evidence that definitively linked Hankins to the murder weapon until late last week.

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Judge Max Cogburn denied the motion, but also ruled that the DNA expert would not be allowed to testify in the case.

[READ MORE: Blood gang members receive life sentences in Lake Wylie double murder]

Cogburn also ruled that prosecutors would not be allowed to call a gang expert to testify, and he gave defense attorneys three days to check the witness list that prosecutors gave them on Friday.

The trial could be the final chapter of the gang investigation that began in 2014, and it could be tense.

Prosecutors plan to call other suspected gang members to testify, and they revealed Monday that McDonald allegedly threatened one potential witness.

Timeline of events:

  • Jan. 30, 2015: Police said that Malcolm Jerrel Hartley, 22, and Brianna Johnson, 18, are arrested in connection with the double homicide investigation of the Londons.
  • Dec. 2, 2014: Cureton and Adoma plead not guilty in the armed robbery case, officials said. David Fudge, who drove the getaway car, was sentenced to probation after his guilty plea earlier in the year.
  • Oct. 30, 2014: Federal prosecutors take over the armed robbery case that accuses Jamell Cureton and Nana Adoma of robbing the Londons' mattress store.
  • Oct. 23, 2014: Doug and Debbie London are found shot to death in their Lake Wylie home.
  • May 25, 2014: Two men rob the Wholesale Mattress Warehouse on South Boulevard owned by Doug and Debbie London. One of the robbers and Doug London exchange gun fire, police said.

Cogburn also ordered that jurors would not be named, but identified only by number, for their own safety.

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