YSL RICO trial attorney arrested on gang charge
ATLANTA - A YSL RICO trial defense attorney has been arrested on gang charge.
Nicole Fegan, who represented Tenquarius Mender in the YSL RICO trial, was charged with criminal street gang activity and criminal solicitation to commit the offense of tampering with evidence.
According to the Atlanta Police Department, Fegan was brought to the attention of investigators during the investigation of a deadly double shooting at Williams Street and Baker Street on Sept. 27, 2022.
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Investigators say Fegan contacted one of the people involved and told him about an active warrant for his arrest.
Later, during a preliminary hearing, it was revealed Fegan had told that man to dispose of his phone before police arrested him.
Defense attorney Nicole Fegan gives closing arguments in a Fulton County courtroom for the trial of Daquan Reed, who was accused of firing the deadly shot that killed 7-year-old Kennedy Maxie, during a session on Aug. 18, 2022. (FOX 5)
Fegan was taken into custody in Gwinnett County and will be transported to the Fulton County Jail.
Renee Rockwell, a fellow defense attorney, says Fegan is innocent of the charges. She says Fegan has agreed to a $40,000 bond. She was released from jail around 10 p.m. Friday.
Deadly double shooting in Downtown Atlanta
Keiontay Davis was arrested on Feb. 21 and charged with aggravated assault and murder.
Investigators say Davis was seen on video near the shooting scene at the corner of Baker and Williams streets around 4:30 p.m. on Sept. 27, 2022.
Police say two people who were shot there were driven to Grady Memorial Hospital by bystanders.
One of the men died.
Nicole Fegan’s role in the YSL RICO trial
Fegan and another attorney, Teombre Calland, successfully had their clients severed from the main case against Young Thug and other alleged YSL gang members in May 2023.
The two cited maternity leave and the slow pace of jury selection in the case.
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Nicole Fegan considered a rising star
For Fegan, the allegations are a fall from grace for a defense attorney who had been considered a rising star. In a 2019 Facebook post, she shared an article about her from Atlanta Attorney at Law Magazine which calls her the "new generation of criminal defense attorneys."
Less than a month before police say Fegan cold-called a murder suspect to tell him to dispose of his phone, informing him he had an active warrant for his arrest, she was in a Fulton County courtroom representing Daquan Reed in a high-profile trial.
Daquan Reed sits in a Fulton County courtroom during his trial in the murder of 7-year-old Kennedy Maxie on August 18, 2022. (FOX 5)
Kennedy Maxie was only 7 years old when she was shot and killed outside of Phipps Plaza days before Christmas 2020. The little girl was riding in the back seat of her aunt's car on December 21, 2020, when prosecutors said Reed opened fire in the Phipps parking lot. They allege he fired the shots because he was angry he had just been robbed outside the shopping mall.
The bullet pierced the car Kennedy was in, hitting her in the head.
Kennedy Maxie, 7, was shot while riding in a car with her aunt after Christmas shopping, according to Atlanta police.
Fegan argued that the witness testimony and physical evidence did not match up, encouraging the jury to consider the evidence carefully.
Jurors heard from multiple witnesses during the trial including Kennedy's mom Mariah Maxie and her aunt Jade Maxie, who were both in the car when the shots rang out.
Reed was ultimately convicted on all charges, including murder, felony murder, and aggravated assault. He was sentenced to life without parole plus 15 years.
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