30 Deep in court: one member gets life, another heads to trial

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• Jonathan Redding

When Jonathan Redding's trial begins this Monday, Feb. 7, it'll have been two years and a month — to the day — since bartender John Henderson was gunned down inside the Grant Park bar at which he worked.

Redding was just 17 years old when he was arrested for Henderson's Jan. 2009 murder at the now-defunct Standard Food & Spirits on Memorial Drive, but was allegedly already part of a "prolific" criminal street gang called 30 Deep.

Young and reckless, the members of the gang made a name for themselves committing smash-and-grab robberies at retail stores — designer jeans mostly — before graduating to more heinous crimes.

Just two days after the Henderson murder, police say Redding was involved in an attempted home invasion in Southwest Atlanta. He's also said to have been involved in the Dec. 2008 armed mugging of another Standard employee. Redding was taken into custody in April 2009 in Mechanicsville, 30 Deep's supposed home turf.

Redding will face 24 felony charges, including murder, armed robbery and gang activity.

Earlier this week, Jonathan Redding's cousin, George "Keon" Redding, also affiliated with 30 Deep, was sentenced to two life sentences plus an additional 40 years for the shooting deaths of Ronnie Pierce and Victor Hill, and for wounding two other people in 2007.

According to the AJC, George Redding attempted during the trial to use makeup to cover up the "30" he has tattooed on his forehead. Jonathan Redding has the number 30 tattooed prominently on his right cheek.

For more on the Reddings, 30 Deep and gang activity in Atlanta through the years, check out CL's 2010 cover story "Gang Mentality."