May 10—Convicted murderer Tyree Ingram's attempt to get a new trial has been denied by the Supreme Court of Georgia, The Union-Recorder has learned.

Ingram was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after being convicted of the Sept. 13, 2019 shooting death of Larmarcus Cornelius "Marc" Brown.

The killer's conviction, which followed a five-day trial in Baldwin County Superior Court in Milledgeville, fell on the victim's 29th birthday.

Authorities described the case as a drug deal between Ingram and Brown that went bad.

In his appeal seeking a new trial, Ingram contended his trial attorney rendered him ineffective assistance by failing to object to good character evidence of the victim; failing to object to and redact the portion of Ingram's recorded statement to law enforcement officers where he talked about his juvenile criminal history, and failing to object to the classification of Ingram's first offender sentence as a conviction when it was tendered into evidence by the state.

Ingram also contended that the cumulative effect of trial counsel's ineffectiveness entitled him to a new trial.

Ingram was represented at trial by Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit Chief Public Defender John Bradley.

The case was prosecuted jointly by Ocumulgee Judicial Circuit District Attorney T. Wright Barksdale III and Assistant District Attorney Faith Worley.

The trial was presided over by Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit Superior Court Chief Judge Brenda H. Trammell.

The day before the murder, Ingram and Brown arranged to meet for a drug transaction. Ingram had planned to buy drugs from Brown.

Ingram, who testified during his trial, said he and Brown decided they would meet in the parking lot of the Georgia War Veterans Home in Milledgeville. Ingram said the plan was supposed to credit him with an ounce of marijuana and an eight-ball of cocaine. Ingram had agreed to pay Brown for the drugs when he got paid.

When the two men showed up in the parking lot, Ingram said he got out of a car that he had borrowed and completed the drug transaction.

Ingram said he paid Brown $35 for an eight-ball of cocaine, and then got out of Brown's car and drove away.

The next day, Brown's body was discovered inside his Nissan Altima, located on Davis Street, just a few blocks from the Georgia War Veterans Home.

A couple that lives near where the car was parked noticed it and one of them called the Baldwin County Sheriff's Office.

One of the first law enforcement officers to arrive on the scene was Deputy Sgt. Melissa Condon.

She found Brown slumped over between the passenger and driver seats of the car.

The deputy also saw blood on Brown's clothing and bullet wounds to both sides of his body.

Detective Maj. Brad King later noted that driver's seat had been moved forward and it appeared to him that it would have been very difficult to drive the car with the seat in that position.

In testimony, King also said the car was cool to the touch, and indicated it had been sitting there for what he said was quite some time.

Brian Hargrove, now assistant special agent with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Region 6 Office in Milledgeville, processed the crime scene and discovered two .40-caliber shell casings. One of the shell casings was found on the driver's side floorboard, while the other one was found in the roadway, near the driver's side door.

Hargrove testified as an expert witness for the prosecution in the fields of crime scene examination, as well as the processing and bullet flight-path reconstruction.

In his appeal to the Supreme Court of Georgia seeking a new trial, all nine justices concurred that even if counsel performed deficiently as Ingram contended, the failure for his attorney to object to the good character of the victim was not prejudicial.

The justices said the evidence of Ingram's guilt was strong.

During an interview with with Baldwin County Sheriff's Office Detective Robert "Bob" Butch, Ingram admitted that he met Brown on Sept. 12, 2019, for a drug transaction. Ingram also admitted that he shot and killed Brown when Brown pointed a gun at him and tried to rob him.

"Considering the totality of the evidence, we find no reasonable probability that, had the trial counsel objected to the testimony" that Ingram complains of, the outcome in Ingram's case "would have been different."

Ingram also contended his attorney was ineffective for failing to object to the admission of the statements he made to Butch on Sept. 13, 2019, as well as a discussion about his juvenile criminal history.

At a motion hearing for a new trial, Ingram's attorney testified that his client's juvenile record was one of the things he was trying to keep out. The attorney said it was a mistake that such evidence was admitted, but that he had no strategic reason for it to come in at trial. The attorney said when his client's interview was played for the jury and he heard him mention his juvenile history, he chose not to do so saying to do such would have drawn more attention to Ingram's statements.

The Justices concurred that Ingram was not prejudiced by the inadvertent admission because the evidence against Ingram "was overwhelming" and the admission of the statement did not affect the outcome of the case.