Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
Deshawn McGahee. Image via WSPA.com
Yesterday the Citizen-Times shared the news: Deshawn Lewis McGahee, 21, of 53 Westwood Place plead guilty to burglary, robbery with a dangerous weapon and kidnapping in connection with last summer’s violent robberies in West Asheville.
McGahee was arrested last summer and charged, but it seems he is just recently acknowledging the 2011 crimes.
The APD used prescription eyeglasses left at the scene and reports of an assailant’s tattoo to connect the crimes to McGahee:
Authorities foiled McGahee’s attempt to cover an incriminating tattoo that linked him to one of the robberies, employing technology that recently has been used to look at levels of scarring in abuse victims.
“This was the first chance I’ve had to prosecute a case where law enforcement was able to use that type of technology to see whether a tattoo had been covered up by another tattoo,” said Chris Hess, an assistant district attorney.
McGahee’s 2011 robberies were notorious because he and the two other people he worked with tied up the victims and pistol whipped them or threatened the use of a firearm after entering the homes with their faces covered. Authorities had two big breaks that helped build a case against him in the three home invasions:
• McGahee lost a pair of eyeglasses with a rare frame and prescription at the scene of the Burton Street robbery on June 25.
• The victims of the Logan Avenue break-in less than two weeks later noticed a woman’s name tattooed on his arm.
Read the full article here: Man admits home invasions
Late last July growing community awareness of the invasions resulted in an impassioned open letter from a West side resident concerned as to why police had not done more to make residents more aware of what was happening, and how they could protect themselves.
The invasions were an ill wind, but one that blew some good into the West side community: A well-attended August 2011 meeting between police and residents provided the real story of the attacks (no one was raped as was rumored, but some robbery victims were terrorized and “pistol-whipped”). At the meeting, more groundwork was laid for the West Asheville Watch Facebook group, a 1600-member crime watch, community resource and neighborhood platform for thoughts and concerns about the area.
McGahee was sentenced to 80-105 months in prison, according to the Asheville Citizen-Times.