John Cox was convicted in October 1999 for the malice murder of Nickey Nicholson, who died as a result of multiple gunshot wounds inflicted by appellant, aggravated assault, cruelty to children and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime. Appellant was sentenced to life imprisonment and to a consecutive 20-year sentence for cruelty to children and a consecutive five-year sentence for the firearms conviction. He appeals from the denial of his motion for new trial.1 Finding sufficient evidence to support the verdict and no reversible error in the trial court’s evidentiary rulings, we affirm.
1. Appellant admitted to shooting and killing his common law wife, Nicky Nickolson, in the presence of their three-year-old daughter, Jada. Appellant shot the victim twice in the back and once in the head and then shot himself in the head. Appellant’s 15-year-old brother who was a witness to the incident called 911 for help and told the dispatch operator that “his brother had shot his girlfriend.” When the police arrived, appellant’s three-year-old child was standing next to her mother’s body, crying and repeating “My daddy killed my mommy.” A female officer took the child from the apartment to her own nearby apartment in order to obtain a t-shirt for the child. The child told that officer “My daddy killed my mommy,” and then repeated this declaration to a maintenance worker who saw them outside of the apartment. Appellant was admitted to the hospital with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his right temporal region. He was stable, awake and alert, and at his request, was given small doses of Demerol and Phenergan, which doctors said could cause drowsiness, but had no effect on his ability to reason. Shortly thereafter, a detective questioned appellant about the incident in the presence of a nurse. Although appellant did not refuse to answer any questions, the detective had to repeat questions and once had to ask appellant to wake up and talk. Appellant told the officer that he shot himself and his girlfriend, but it was a “long story.” The detective promised to leave after appellant explained the reason for shooting the victim. Appellant then informed the officer that he shot the victim because she was cheating on him. This evidence was sufficient to enable a rational trier of fact to find appellant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the crimes charged. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560 1979.
