An Augusta man who was a convicted felon at age 14 was named the suspect in the Labor Day shootings of two men in a Ford Mustang.
Zion Hassani Howard, 21, was captured early Monday, just hours after allegedly firing repeatedly into the black 2002 Mustang GT occupied by two men, authorities said. One of the victims was shot in the mouth. They were ages 28 and 26.
The suspect was only 14 when he was charged as an adult in three armed robberies in Augusta. Before that, he was just 11 years old when he was accused of joining four older suspects in terrorizing a Grovetown woman in a home invasion. And, Howard last spent time in prison for a rash of Columbia County car break-ins when he was only 18.
In Monday’s aggravated assault, the driver said they were driving on Tobacco Road approaching Mack Lane when “someone started shooting at his vehicle,” a sheriff’s report says. Deputies found the Mustang with bullet holes on the hood, the driver door and the passenger window.
Both victims were treated at Augusta University Medical Center.
The charges against Howard paint him as a violent criminal involved in drug dealing. He is charged with two counts of aggravated assault and possession with intent to distribute cocaine, meth and marijuana. Other charges include two counts each of weapon possession and firearm possession by a convicted felon. Howard also has a hold on him for probation and parole.
Criminal history started as a pre-teen. In 2011, Howard was identified as the youngest suspect in a violent home invasion in Grovetown. A woman was at her boyfriend’s home on Lake Royal Drive the day before Halloween when five suspects rang the doorbell. When she answered the door, one of the teens stepped in the doorway and pointed a silver gun at her, making her lie on the floor.
When the woman’s boyfriend opened his bedroom door, the five fled. Columbia County authorities set up a perimeter and caught Howard along with four teens, ages 17, 17, 15 and 14.
It’s not clear what happened with that armed robbery case. But he was arrested three years later for three armed robberies. In those cases, Judge Daniel Craig gave Howard “first-offender status” in a plea bargain that dismissed all weapons charges and one attempted robbery offense. The judge also reduced the armed robbery offenses to robbery. Judge Craig then sentenced Howard to four years of confinement each as well as six years of probation.
Prison records show that he has been in and out of prison three times since the age of 17. In the car break-ins from Columbia County, Howard was given a five-year sentence in 2018, but he was paroled a year later.
