An Augusta man sentenced in the 2019 shooting death of a 24-year-old drug dealer in a dispute over $300 will stay in prison after losing his appeal.
Tony Darby, now 32, was convicted in February 2023 of the felony murder of Sanquan V. Sims at the Magnolia Park apartments on Vandivere Road.
The Georgia Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected Darby's appeal alleging that his attorney failed to object to key pieces of testimony and evidence, and that Superior Court Judge Ashley Wright did not allow the jury to consider a less-serious voluntary manslaughter charge.
The original trial court sentenced Darby to life in prison without the possibility of parole for felony murder, and to a consecutive
term of five years in prison for possessing a firearm while committing a crime.
About 5 p.m. on the day of the murder, Sims, Darby and Patrick Noble, Darby's co-defendant, met at the apartments on the 2000 block of Vandivere Road prepared for a fistfight, according to prosecutors. The men accused Sims of selling Noble fake pain pills and unsuccessfully demanded his money back, prompting Darby to shoot Sims seven times. Noble was acquitted of all charges.
The state's high court ruled that a voluntary manslaughter consideration applies only when someone kills in the heat of passion after being seriously provoked. Darby had argued that seeing Sims threaten Noble with a gun could have provoked him into shooting.
The high court also ruled that Darby's attorney's lack of objections were reasonable trial strategies. The attorney didn't object to the prosecutor's comments during closing arguments because the comments were either reasonable inferences from the evidence or unlikely to change the trial's outcome, then justices unanimously concluded.
The case is Tony Darby v. the State, No. S26A0892.
This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Augusta man’s life sentence upheld by Georgia Supreme Court
