A jury returned verdicts finding Chas Clifford Cannon guilty of felony murder, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime. The trial court entered judgments of conviction and sentenced Cannon to life imprisonment for the felony murder charge and a suspended consecutive 5-year term for the weapons charge. The aggravated assault count merged into the felony murder conviction. Cannon appeals after the denial of a motion for new trial. 1. Construed most strongly in support of the verdicts, the evidence shows that on the night of the shooting, February 16, 2006, the victim went to the Travelodge hotel to meet with two women, Tonya Flemister and Brandy Clark. At one point, the two women accompanied the victim to the ATM, where he withdrew a large sum of money. When they returned to the hotel, the victim went to Ms. Clark’s room in order to purchase drugs. Present in the room were Cannon and another man named Jay. After being informed that the victim had a large sum of money on him, Cannon followed the victim out of the room. Shortly thereafter, Cannon shot the victim once in the head and once in the chest. At least five people outside of the hotel at that time witnessed the shooting.
After the shooting, Cannon went to an acquaintance’s hotel room, visibly shaken. He said that he had just shot a man and, after pulling a gun out of his pocket, stated “I think he is dead.” Cannon also said that the shooting occurred in the course of a robbery, that the victim had reached into his pocket, and that Cannon, thinking that the victim was reaching for a weapon, shot him twice. The victim’s body was later found by the authorities along a fence in the parking lot of the Travelodge hotel. The evidence was sufficient for a rational trier of fact to find Cannon guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the crimes for which he was convicted. Jackson v. Virginia , 443 U. S. 307 99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560 1979.
