Appellant Desmond Davis was convicted of malice murder, two counts of felony murder, aggravated assault, armed robbery and two firearm possession charges in connection with the shooting death of Jameson Bush. Finding no error in the denial of Davis’s motion for new trial,1 we affirm. 1. Davis contends that the evidence was insufficient to sustain the jury’s verdict. The evidence authorized the jury to find that at the time of the crimes Bush’s friend Adom Martin rented a room in a boarding house, from which he sold marijuana. Martin was with Bush and two other men in the room on the night of August 8, 2007. When Martin and one of the men opened the door to leave, two masked gunmen forced them back inside. One of the gunmen had the lower portion of his face covered with a dark-colored bandana and carried an assault rifle, while the other wore a black “skull cap” and carried a handgun. The gunmen ordered everyone to the ground and asked where the drugs and money were. When Bush stood up and begged the gunmen not to shoot, the man with the assault rifle began firing. The gunmen took money from those in the room and ran out the back of the building. Bush died from gunshot wounds to the head and torso, seven of which came from an assault rifle and one of which came from a handgun.
Martin identified Davis in a photo array as the man with the assault rifle, based on his distinctive eyes and neck. A friend of Davis testified that she was with him on the night of the crimes and that he was wearing a dark-colored bandana pushed down into his shirt. An acquaintance of Davis testified that he repaired Davis’s vehicle around the time of the crimes and that Davis had a large amount of cash in his possession; Davis told this acquaintance, “Yeah, I hit a lick” and that he “didn’t want to shoot the guy.” Davis’s then-girlfriend testified that a few days after the crimes, he told her that he “had to kill Shorty because he wouldn’t let go of the money.” She also testified that Davis had several guns and obtained an assault rifle in August 2007, but that there were no weapons in his residence after the crimes. A friend of Davis’s girlfriend, who lived near the scene, testified that he saw Davis driving slowly past his house shortly before the time of the crimes. This witness went to Martin’s house to purchase marijuana soon thereafter, and he noticed the car Davis had been driving parked nearby. He approached Martin’s door, but ran away when he heard yelling and shooting; when he came back a few minutes later, he saw that the car Davis had been driving was gone. The credibility of these witnesses was a matter lying exclusively within the province of the jury. Marshall v. State , 285 Ga. 351 1 676 SE2d 201 2009.
