Alvenio Johnny Culpepper was convicted of and sentenced for the malice murder, aggravated assault, and armed robbery of Jenny Neville, as well as possession of a knife during the commission of armed robbery.1 He appeals his convictions, contending the aggravated assault and armed robbery convictions merged into the malice murder conviction and the sentences imposed for aggravated assault and armed robbery should be vacated. Appellant is correct with regard to his conviction for aggravated assault, but incorrect insofar as his conviction for armed robbery is concerned. Accordingly, we affirm his convictions for malice murder, armed robbery, and possession of a knife during the commission of armed robbery, vacate his conviction for aggravated assault, and remand the case to the trial court for re-sentencing. 1. Jenny Neville was found dead in her Duluth, Georgia, duplex apartment on September 12, 2006. She had been stabbed 22 times. The medical examiner testified the victim died within minutes of sustaining her injuries from a combination of blood loss and inability to breathe. The medical examiner classified several of the victim’s stab wounds as “potentially survivable” because no major blood vessel, organ, or bone was injured, and described as “fatal” the stab wounds that injured the victim’s jugular vein, right lung, right kidney, and small intestine. The State presented evidence that appellant was the resident in the duplex’s other apartment, and socks and a t-shirt stained with the victim’s blood were found in his apartment. A cordless telephone handset, the base of which was found in the victim’s apartment, was found atop appellant’s television. The knife used to stab the victim was found under a floormat outside her apartment. A handwritten note containing appellant’s fingerprints was found in appellant’s apartment, and it stated that appellant loved his family, that drugs had gotten the best of him, and that he had not meant to hurt anyone. Appellant was arrested in Pennsylvania five days after Ms. Neville was killed and gave two written statements and a videotaped interview in which he confessed to stabbing the victim with a knife, taking her ATM card and her car, and leaving the knife he had used under the floormat at the base of the stairs to the victim’s apartment. The victim’s car was found on September 19 a short distance from the Pennsylvania city in which appellant was arrested. The evidence was sufficient to authorize the jury to find appellant guilty of malice murder, aggravated assault, armed robbery, and possession of a knife during the commission of a felony. Jackson v. Virginia , 443 U.S. 307 99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560 1979.
2. The indictment charged appellant with malice murder by stabbing the victim, felony murder with armed robbery as the predicate offense, felony murder with aggravated assault by stabbing as the predicate offense, armed robbery, aggravated assault by stabbing, and possession of a knife during the commission of armed robbery. The jury returned guilty verdicts on all charges. Appellant contends his aggravated assault conviction for stabbing the victim with a knife merges as a matter of fact into his felony murder/aggravated assault conviction, which merges into the malice murder conviction for killing the victim by stabbing her with a knife. He uses the same rationale to argue that his armed robbery conviction also merges into his malice murder conviction.
