After a jury trial, Chaz Gregory Stringer was found guilty of two alternative counts of the felony murder of Victor Manuel Gallegos-de la Rosa, two separate counts which charged the underlying felonies of attempted armed robbery and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, one count of aggravated assault with intent to rob against Edgar Israel Garcia-Gallegos, and two counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. Treating the alternative count charging felony murder while in the commission of aggravated assault as surplusage and merging the underlying felonies, the trial court entered judgments of conviction for all remaining counts and imposed sentences of life imprisonment for the one count of felony murder, a concurrent 20-year term for the aggravated assault of Garcia-Gallegos, and consecutive 5-year terms for the two weapons offenses. A motion for new trial was denied, and Stringer appeals. 1. Construed most strongly in support of the verdicts, the evidence shows that Stringer, wearing a mask, entered Garcia’s Restaurant after the evening’s last customer had left. Stringer pointed a pistol at Gallegos-de la Rosa, who was working at the restaurant, and demanded money. When Gallegos-de la Rosa pushed the pistol away, Stringer said, “Do you think it is a game” He then fatally shot Gallegos-de la Rosa and left the restaurant without taking any money. Garcia-Gallegos was present during the shooting and later identified Chaz Gregory Stringer in court as the gunman. The evidence was sufficient for a rational trier of fact to find Stringer guilty of the crimes for which he was convicted. Jackson v. Virginia , 443 U. S. 307 99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560 1979; Willingham v. State , 281 Ga. 577 642 SE2d 43 2007.
2. Stringer contends that the trial court erred in denying a motion to suppress his custodial statement, because he was illegally arrested without probable cause. ” ‘On reviewing a trial court’s ruling on a motion to suppress, evidence is construed most favorably to uphold the findings and judgment and the trial court’s findings on disputed facts and credibility must be accepted unless clearly erroneous. Cit.’ Cit.” Cit. Smith v. State , 281 Ga. 185-186 2 640 SE2d 1 2006. The evidence supports the following findings by the trial court: Several individuals mentioned Stringer’s name to police officers as someone who might have been involved in the shooting, and Stringer’s father asked whether he was involved. After a caller claimed that several individuals were at a particular house discussing the shooting, officers knocked on the front door of the house and informed the owner why they were there. While they were talking, Deputy Kelly Edwards, who was covering the rear of the residence, saw Stringer quietly slipping out the back door. Edwards shined his flashlight at Stringer, drew his gun, pointed it at him, frisked him for weapons, probably handcuffed him, and escorted him to the front of the house. After police officers learned his name, Stringer was asked if he would mind speaking with someone at the police station. Stringer agreed to go and, while he was still at the house, the police discovered that the defendant was subject to a pre-existing juvenile detention order. At the police station, with his mother present, Stringer waived his rights, confessed to shooting Gallegos-de la Rosa in the hand, and accurately sketched out the scene of the shooting. After giving his statement, Stringer was informed that Gallegos-de la Rosa had died. The trial court concluded that, given the totality of the circumstances, the detention by Deputy Edwards did not constitute an arrest, but rather was a second-tier encounter which was justified by reasonable, articulable suspicion.
