Appellant Aubrey Lewis appeals his conviction of murder and related charges in connection with the shooting death of Patrick Cousins on December 4, 1996. Finding no error, we affirm.1 1. Construed in the light most favorable to the verdict, the evidence adduced at trial established as follows. On December 4, 1996, appellant, a convicted felon, and two accomplices, Gilbert Darby and David Upshaw, drove to a Cobb County apartment complex intending to commit an armed robbery. Upon spotting a group of three potential targets, appellant, armed with a .40 caliber pistol, and Darby, armed with a 9-millimeter gun, exited the car and beckoned the group to “come here.” One of the victims fled; appellant and Darby commanded the other two to “lay it down” —a demand for money in street slang —and began shooting, but all three victims escaped. Driving through the parking lot at the time was a van occupied by sixteen-year-old Cousins and two other teenage boys. As appellant and Darby retreated to Upshaw’s car, appellant opened fire on the van, killing Cousins. On December 7, 1996, appellant and Darby robbed at gunpoint two other victims as they were exiting another Marietta apartment complex, stealing crack cocaine and at least $3,500 in cash.
A few weeks prior to these crimes, several items, including a .40 caliber Berretta pistol, were stolen from the home of Hapeville police officer James Buhs, who lived in the same apartment complex as appellant. On December 8, one day after the armed robbery, appellant and Darby were arrested at a Clayton County store for carrying a concealed handgun. This gun was later identified as the Berretta pistol stolen from Officer Buhs and was also determined by a State firearms examiner to have been the murder weapon.