A jury found Nekio Holloway guilty of armed robbery, criminal attempt to commit armed robbery, aggravated battery, and three counts of aggravated assault. He appeals from the judgment entered on the verdict, urging that the testimony of his co-defendant was not corroborated, the evidence was not sufficient to support the conviction on the aggravated battery charge, and several of the offenses should have merged for sentencing purposes. We agree that one of the aggravated assault charges should have merged with the aggravated battery charge, and that the armed robbery charge should have merged with the criminal attempt to committed armed robbery charge. Accordingly, the judgments of conviction and sentences for two of the charges must be vacated. None of the remaining enumerations has merit, so we affirm Holloway’s other convictions. Viewed favorably to the verdict,1 the evidence shows James Avery drove his Cadillac to the home of Rayphal Morrison to buy marijuana. Avery’s girlfriend, Erica Kiser, waited in the car. Morrison opened the door for Avery, and Avery went inside the house for a few minutes. Avery left the house and walked toward his car. Four or five armed men came from behind the house and ordered Avery to get on the ground. One of the men hit Avery in the head with a baseball bat three or four times. The men stole Avery’s money and marijuana.
The men also took Avery’s car keys and attempted to steal Avery’s car. They were unable to steal the car, because the car had a “kill” switch on it that prevented the car from starting. A small man wearing braids and brandishing a handgun approached Kiser and told her to get on the ground. She screamed and he told her to be quiet or he was going to “use it.” The men told Kiser to get back into the car and asked her how to start the car, but she did not know how to start it. The men dragged Avery to the car and tried to get him to start the car, but he was not conscious and was unable to comply with their demands. In order to get Avery to start the car, the men tied some straps around his arm and wrist and sat him on their laps. Avery, still unconscious, was not able to start the car. One of the assailants panicked and fled. The other men dragged Avery back out to the yard. According to Kiser, they appeared to be mad because Avery would not start the car. The small man with the braids said to Avery, “Don’t make me shoot you, don’t make me shoot you with this AK-47, you can start the car.” He then tried unsuccessfully to wake Avery up. Then, while Avery was lying on his stomach, “out of it,” the man shot him in the buttocks.
