Freddie Allen Eason appeals his conviction for malice murder, possession of a firearm during commission of a felony, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.1 The evidence at trial showed that Eason’s sixteen-year-old girlfriend, Teresa Mobley, died in the early morning hours of February 20, 1997, from a single gunshot wound to the head. Eason’s mother, whose Chatham County home Eason and Mobley were sharing, was awakened by the sound of a gunshot and, after hearing Eason calling Mobley’s name several times, went to the living room where she discovered Eason standing beside Mobley who sat on a loveseat bleeding from a head wound. Police officers who arrived at the scene within five minutes of a 911 call met Eason at the door, from which location they saw Mobley in the living room unconscious and bleeding, and one of the officers detected the odor of gunpowder inside the house. Eason told the officers Mobley went outside to check on something, walked back into the house a few minutes later, sat down, and fell over. The forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy testified that the cause of death was a gunshot wound to the back of the head which was consistent with having been inflicted while Mobley was seated. The doctor stated that the wound would have caused a great loss of blood and would likely have rendered Mobley immediately unconscious, making it very unlikely that Mobley could have traveled any distance after suffering such a fatal wound. No blood was found outside the house or anywhere in the house other than where Mobley was sitting on the loveseat. The projectile recovered from Mobley’s head was identified as a .38 caliber bullet. Mobley’s brother Kenneth and Eason’s friend, George Thorpe, testified Eason had a .38 revolver in his possession the preceding day. Thorpe also testified he saw Eason, gun in hand, follow Mobley from the room during an argument in the evening preceding Mobley’s death, and that Mobley returned with an injury to her lip, and that after Mobley took him home that night, he called Eason because he knew Eason was upset with Mobley, and he was talking to Eason on the phone when Eason said Mobley had returned home. Evidence of Eason’s previous conviction for aggravated assault was admitted into the record. 1. The evidence adduced at trial and summarized above, though circumstantial, was sufficient to have authorized the jury to find that the State excluded all reasonable hypotheses except that of the defendant’s guilt, and to have authorized any rational trier of fact to find Eason 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; Baugh v. State , 276 Ga. 736 1 585 SE2d 616 2003.
2. Eason correctly contends the trial court erred in its charge on intent by giving the “use of a firearm” charge forbidden by Harris v. State , 273 Ga. 608 2 543 SE2d 716 2001. However, “where a defendant is convicted of malice murder, giving the charge disapproved of in Harris is harmless error where the evidence of malice is so overwhelming that it is highly probable the charge did not contribute to the verdict. Cits.” Fulton v. State , 278 Ga. 58 4 597 SE2d 396 2004. Since the evidence was sufficient to exclude any reasonable hypothesis other than that Eason, while upset with Mobley, shot her in the back of head as she sat on a loveseat, we conclude the evidence of malice was sufficiently overwhelming that it is highly probable that the charge did not contribute to the verdict, rendering the erroneous charge harmless. See Flanders v. State , 279 Ga. 35 8 609 SE2d 346 2005.
