A jury convicted Donald Hugh Gamble, Jr., of the murder of Quamaine Rickman in Richmond County.1 Gamble contends that the evidence was insufficient and the trial court erred in its jury instructions. We affirm because the evidence was sufficient and there was no error in the jury charge, but vacate the conviction and sentence for felony murder due to a sentencing error.
1. The evidence presented at trial shows that Richard Owen drove Rickman, his roommate, to see someone about drugs that Rickman had not received during a cocaine buy earlier that evening. Owen parked in front of a white sport utility vehicle with two men standing in the street next to it. He watched through his driver’s side mirror as Rickman talked to Gamble. Rickman began walking back to the car with Gamble following him, and they exchanged words. As Rickman opened the passenger side door, Owen heard a shot and saw Gamble moving towards the driver’s side of the car with a gun in his hand. Owen next heard glass break and then saw Gamble fire a third shot through the open window on the driver’s side. Rickman was hit and died on the way to the hospital. An anonymous informant told police the nickname of the gunman. Owen provided a similar nickname and identified Gamble from a photographic lineup as the gunman. In a subsequent interview, Owen told police that Gamble was a back yard neighbor who had come to the house several times to sell drugs to Rickman. Gamble was arrested two months later in Dade County, Florida, based on an anonymous tip. In processing Owen’s car, police found that bullets had entered on the driver’s side through the rear wheel well cover and rear vent window. Three cartridge casings and two spent projectiles were found in the street. The medical examiner testified that Rickman died from a bullet that entered his left shoulder and cut his aorta before exiting on his right side, which was consistent with the path of the second bullet shot through the rear window. After reviewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the jury’s determination of guilt, we conclude that a rational trier of fact could have found Gamble guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the crimes charged. See Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U. S. 307 99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560 1979.
