MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — Baldwin County Chief Magistrate Shane Geeter ruled there is enough evidence to bound over a case to a county grand jury for consideration of returning criminal indictments against a Milledgeville man.

His decision followed a Wednesday morning preliminary hearing.

Vandrick Bernard “Vito” Harden, whom local law enforcement authorities say is a member of the 92 Bloods, a criminal gang with connections across the country, was recently charged with two counts of aggravated assault.

Harden was taken into custody at his residence May 31 in Milledgeville. Two law enforcement agencies took part in the arrest. They included deputies and detectives with the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office, as well as special agents with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Region 6 Office in Milledgeville.

Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit Assistant District Attorney Leonard D. Myers represented the state during the hearing. Defense attorney Calvin McMullen represented Harden.

Harden’s arrest came while local and state authorities were investigating the murder of 34-year-old Tanya Renae Massey at her mobile home off Lee Street on the night of Memorial Day.

Massey was shot to death by someone who fired 11 shots into the back side of her mobile home. The case remains unsolved.

Before he made his ruling on the charges, Geeter said the woman who telephoned the sheriff’s office because she was concerned about the safety of her daughter was “key” in the decision.

The woman’s daughter told her that she was a passenger in a car that was involved in a drive-by shooting last July 29 in Milledgeville, and the woman’s mother did what one would expect any mother to do, Geeter said.

The woman called authorities to tell them about what happened 10 months and two days ago.

After testimony in the hearing, Geeter determined that the case should go to grand jurors for possible indictment against Harden.

During the hearing, testimony revealed that the man driving the ‘90s late model Lincoln Town Car, which was struck by five bullets in the trunk and rear window during the same drive-by shooting, was Eric Warren.

Authorities contend that Warren, and not his live-in girlfriend, Tanya Massey, was the target of the deadly shooting on the night of Memorial Day.

Warren has been the target of at least one other drive-by shooting since last year. He managed to escape being injured in all three of those shootings.

The only witness to testify at Wednesday’s hearing was Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office Detective Greg See.

Myers and McMullen both questioned the detective.

When asked about his involvement in the investigation, the detective replied that initially it was one of the investigations into multiple shootings that had been reported last summer.

“This was one where patrol (deputies) answered the call,” See said, noting that Warren’s car later was processed by the GBI.

At the time, Warren told Deputy Brandon Clements who shot at him.

It wasn’t until the mother telephoned a detective after Massey’s slaying that they established who they believe the trigger man actually was in last July’s drive-by shooting, testimony revealed.

Detective See identified the woman who telephoned him and who indicated that her daughter was in the car with Warren when the drive-by shooting took place near the intersection of North Main Street and Allen Memorial Drive.

It was learned that Warren had been shot at multiple times in the past.

“She stated that she was in the car,” See said, recalling the interview. “She stated that Eric Warren was driving… .”

The woman told the detective they didn’t report the crime at the time because there was an outstanding warrant for her arrest. She said Warren later drove to a residence on the 100 block of Barnes Avenue where he made a 911 call to report what had happened.

Warren had taken the woman to an undisclosed location by that time.

Myers later asked the detective if the victim ever mentioned whether or not she saw the shooter and whether or not she knew him.

“She said she saw multiple individuals in the vehicle,” See said, noting that she identified Harden as the shooter.

Warren said Harden was the shooter, too, when he later was questioned after the murder of his live-in girlfriend, Tanya Massey.

See said Warren told him that at the time of the drive-by shooting last July that he was in the process of taking the woman to someone’s house so she could borrow some money.

Warren said when he saw Harden that he asked what was up and that’s when he began firing shots at him and his passengers.

When Myers asked the detective if Warren ever told him why he thought he was being targeted he said didn’t know.

“It’s typical of the shootings we’re having now,” See said.

McMullen, Harden’s attorney, also asked the detective a series of questions during the hearing.

In his closing comments, McMullen said he wondered why the victims did not share the same information with authorities 10 months ago about the drive-by shooting.

Myers pointed out investigations into criminal cases have a tendency to run hot and cold. He said the Detective See had established from the victims of last summer’s drive-by shooting that Harden had been identified as the shooter.