Teen was charged with murder after shooting at a Macon club. Now he argues self-defense

A Macon man charged with murdering a co-worker at a local club in 2022 is now claiming he acted in self-defense when he committed the fatal shooting, but a local judge isn’t willing to drop his charges.

Andrew Ronnie Mullis, who was 19 at the time and a dealer at the Full House Tavern, was charged with murder, aggravated assault and possessing a weapon with intent to commit a felony for the shooting death of Dedrick Bulls, a bouncer at the same establishment.

Mullis’ attorney, Clifton Alan Wheeler, asked a judge to rule that Mullis acted in self-defense at a hearing Friday.

“My client was justified on the use of deadly force, and I believe we’ve shown that,” Wheeler said in court Friday at a hearing for his request.

If the judge had agreed, the charges would’ve been dismissed. But Judge Jeffrey Monroe denied Mullis’ request.

“The court looked very closely at the body language of everyone in the video,” Monroe said Friday. “No body language indicates it was a tense situation.”

However, Monroe did agree to grant Mullis a bond at his attorney’s request. Mullis had been in jail for a year and a half without bond until Friday. Monroe set his bail at $100,000, ordering him wear an ankle monitor, stay away from Bibb County until the day of trial, and avoid talking to anybody related to the case if he does post bond.

Why accused Macon shooter wanted case dismissed

In court documents, Wheeler argued that Mullis felt threatened by Bulls on the night of the incident.

Wheeler’s motion asking for the shooting to be ruled justified states that Mullis and Bulls were seen on video arguing throughout the night on Dec. 12. Upon the end of Mullis’ shift, Bulls and another security guard blocked the exit of the nightclub for Mullis, according to the motion. There was no audio on the tape.

That video was played in court Friday.

In the video, Mullis was seen pulling out his cell phone to show both the bouncers something while he withdrawing pistol and holding it to his side, according to court documents.

When Bulls slapped the phone out of Mullis’ hand and approached him, Mullis fired one bullet toward Bulls’ head. Bulls died from his injuries a day later.

A trial date hasn’t been set in Mullis’ case yet.