TROUP COUNTY, Ga. — A 21-year-old LaGrange man has been found guilty of felony murder in connection to the 2019 shooting death of 24-year-old James Jake Ponder during an attempted armed robbery.
After a week-long trial, Travis McFarland, known as "Slime Hext" in the Bloods gang, was found guilty by a Troup County jury. He was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison with the possibility of parole, followed by 75 years, according to a release.
The District Attorney for the Coweta Judicial Circuit said McFarland was found guilty of the following charges:
- Felony murder
- Aggravated assault with a deadly weapon
- Criminal attempt to commit armed robbery
- Possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony
- Two violations of the Georgis Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act
During the trial, evidence showed Ponder was shot in the back, hands and leg while he was sitting in the driver's seat of his car. It was "an armed robbery attempt gone bad," a release stated.
Ponder died due to his injuries on Feb. 9, 2019.
"The evidence demonstrated that McFarland was one of two perpetrators who got into Ponder’s backseat under false pretenses with the plan to rob him at gunpoint," according to the release.
McFarland went by the alias "Slime Hext,"; to "Slime" someone is commonly referred to as "to rob" someone in the Bloods gang.
"The investigation also demonstrated that McFarland was a member of the 'Bounty Hunter' set of the Bloods criminal street gang, and that the commission of these offenses were motivated by his participation in the violent gang’s activities, and that he committed these crimes to maintain and increase his status in the gang," the Coweta Judicial Circuit said.
Omare Atcherson also faces charges in connection with Ponder's murder. He has been indicted and is currently awaiting a trial.
"This case is another tragic example of lives being ruined and families being destroyed by criminal street gangs. Mr. Ponder, the victim, has lost his life and his family will never be the same-all because the defendant chose to commit a robbery and was willing to kill for it," a release stated. "As an appropriate and just consequence, he will spend a substantial portion, if not the remainder of his life in prison. Case after case shows that criminal street gang activity leads to death or substantial incarceration."
