Appellant Rashad Bester appeals his convictions for malice murder and other crimes relating to the strangulation death of Shawna Webber.1 On appeal, Bester claims that the trial court erred in denying his claim that his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance and his claim that the prosecutor violated his equal protection rights by the use of a peremptory strike in selecting the jury. We affirm Bester’s convictions for malice murder and sodomy, but vacate his conviction and sentence for aggravated assault, because the conviction for that offense merged with his malice murder conviction.
1. Viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, the evidence presented at trial showed that about 12:15 a.m. on October 26, 2008, Bester enlisted the help of a friend, Maurice Sims, to look for Bester’s cell phone along the side of McCranie Street in Atkinson County. Bester told Sims that he had dropped the phone there earlier that night when he had stopped to go to the bathroom. In looking for Bester’s phone, Sims saw legs under some bushes and told Bester. Bester did not act surprised, and when Sims said they needed to report it to authorities, Bester said that they should not because his cell phone, which they did not find, was near there. Sims reported the body the next morning. That day, the police discovered the victim’s body in a ditch along the side of McCranie Street. Bester’s cell phone and glasses were found about 12 feet from the victim’s body; sperm found in the victim’s rectum was matched to Bester through DNA testing; and tire tracks and shoe prints found at the crime scene matched the tread on Bester’s car and shoes found in it. In sum, the evidence was sufficient to authorize a rational jury to find beyond a reasonable doubt that Bester was guilty of the crimes of which he was convicted. See Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U. S. 307, 319 99 SCt 2781, 61 LE2d 560 1979. However, the malice murder and aggravated assault counts of the indictment were predicated on Bester strangling the victim, and because there is no evidence that the victim suffered a non-fatal injury followed by a deliberate interval before the fatal strangulation, the conviction and sentence for aggravated assault must be vacated. See Alvelo v. State, 290 Ga. 609 2 724 SE2d 377 2012.
