Bennie Collier was convicted of malice murder, felony murder while in the commission of an aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in the shooting death of Christopher Lewis. The trial court properly treated the felony murder count as surplusage and the aggravated assault count as having merged in the malice murder charge, see Malcolm v. State , 263 Ga. 369 434 SE2d 479 1993, and sentenced Collier to life imprisonment for malice murder and to a consecutive five-year term for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He appeals from the denial of his motion for new trial, contending the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction and challenging the court’s ruling that he was not denied effective assistance of counsel. Finding no error, we affirm.1 1. Collier contends the evidence was not sufficient to authorize the verdict. Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict, see Harvey v. State , 274 Ga. 350 2 554 SE2d 148 2001, it shows that Collier approached Lewis’ vehicle believing its occupants wanted to purchase crack cocaine from him. When Collier leaned into the vehicle, a passenger grabbed the cocaine, and Lewis sped off. The car stalled a few blocks down the street, and Collier ran to the car to retrieve the drugs. Lewis’ companion returned the drugs to Collier, but unbeknownst to Collier, she hid one bag of crack in her pocket. Afterwards, when Collier discovered that all of the cocaine had not been returned, he ran back to Lewis’ disabled vehicle. Collier pulled a gun and shot Lewis in the leg, knocking him to the ground. An eyewitness to the shooting testified that Lewis begged Collier not to shoot him again, but that Collier responded ” I got to, man,” and then fired a shot at point blank range into Lewis’ head, causing his death.
The evidence adduced at trial was sufficient to authorize a rational trier of fact to find Collier guilty of the crimes charged beyond a reasonable doubt. See Jackson v. Virginia , 443 U.S. 307 99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560 1979.
