A 46-year-old Savannah man was convicted Wednesday of shooting a 21-year-old to death in a rooming house following an earlier crack cocaine transaction.
A jury deliberated for only 13 minutes before finding Anthony Bernard Morris guilty on charges of malice murder, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and possession of a gun by a convicted felon in the Sept. 13, 2011 slaying of Sidon Antoine James.
Chatham County Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley will sentence Morris at a later date.
During the trial Assistant District Attorney said Morris had approached James and 21-year-old Raheem Williams early that day to purchase $10 worth of crack but could not pay for the drugs. Williams and James agreed to give Morris the crack and collect payment later, said Daniel Baxter, Chatham County District Attorney’s Office spokesman.
Morris later met the men to pay back his debt, but the 21-year-olds instead requested $50. Williams then pulled a gun on Morris and took $100 from him, Baxter said.
Later Morris borrowed a .9 mm Glock pistol and went looking for Williams. He found James in a rooming house on West 4st Street and asked him where Williams was. Morris shot James in the stomach and head then shot him four additional times, Baxter said. He fled the rooming house and was apprehended hiding behind a fence near the intersection of 44th and Stevens streets.