ATLANTA — In a decision released Monday morning, the Georgia Supreme Court upheld the conviction and life sentence of a man for his role in the 2016 murder of a Georgia Lottery winner in Ben Hill County.
Wayan Malik Jordan was one of seven people tied to the G-Shine criminal gang charged with robbing and killing 20-year-old Craigory Burch, Jr., in Ben Hill County.
Burch, a Fitzgerald fork lift driver, won the Georgia Lottery's Fantasy 5 drawing on Nov. 29, 2015, pocketing the jackpot of $434,272 after purchasing a ticket in Warner Robins.
According to the high court's opinion, evidence presented at trial showed that on Jan. 20, 2016, Dabrentise Overstreet contacted Jordan, Nathaniel Baker and others with plans to rob Burch.
Burch, who had a photograph taken of himself holding a large check showing his winnings, had purchased a home in Fitzgerald with some of the proceeds.
Initially, Jordan was reluctant to participate in the robbery, but finally agreed to join the group in order to redeem himself from having stolen drugs earlier from gang members.
The court said that on the day of the crime, the group drove to Burch's home in two separate cars driven by Overstreet and Baker's girlfriends.
When they arrived at Burch's home, Baker kicked in the door. Baker, Overstreet and Jordan entered the home with guns drawn.
Burch was in the living room with his girlfriend and their two young children. A third child was asleep in a back bedroom.
Jordan and Overstreet held the adults at gunpoint and demanded money while Baker went to the back of the home to search for valuables.
While Burch sat on the sofa holding his 2-year-old son, Overstreet shot Burch several times in the leg. According to testimony, at least one of the wounds to Burch's thigh was fatal.
Meanwhile, Jordan went through the purse of Burch's girlfriend, which contained two cellphones belonging to Burch, as well as her cellphone and wallet.
Jordan, Overstreet and Baker left the house. After Jordan was unable to start Burch's truck parked in the driveway, Overstreet went back into the house and shot Burch in the chest.
The seven alleged gang members then left the scene.
One of the women later testified that Jordan and the others joked about the shooting and that Jordan laughed about it as they divided the proceeds from the robbery, which included Burch's wallet.
Police eventually arrested all seven people. They were charged with a litany of crimes, including malice murder, home invasion, armed robbery and street gang activity.
After a separate trial in March 2017, a jury found Jordan guilty on all counts. He was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences plus 15 years for murder, home invasion and gun charges.
In Jordan's appeal to the Georgia Supreme Court, his defense attorneys argued a number of reasons why his convictions should be reversed.
Among them, Jordan contended the evidence was not legally sufficient to convict him of murder because the evidence failed to show that he shared Overstreet's intent to kill.
Justice Keith R. Blackwell, in Monday's Supreme Court opinion rejected that argument.
"'Criminal intent may be inferred from presence, companionship, and conduct before, during, and after the offense,'" Blackwell said, referring to an earlier Georgia Supreme Court decision this year, Hardy v. State. "Here, Jordan agreed to take part in the home invasion as a member of the gang, he held the victims at gunpoint while Overstreet fatally shot Burch in the leg, he participated in the division of the proceeds from the robbery."
Jordan also insisted the original court made a mistake by referring to inadmissable evidence of gang activity and that he had received "ineffective assistance of counsel" from his trial attorney in violation of his constitutional rights.
Blackwell rejected both arguments, saying that since the defense acknowledged in his opening statement that Jordan was a gang member, under Georgia Law, there was no need for the state to prove the fact during the course of the trial, as well as rejecting the claim of "ineffective assistance of counsel" from Jordan.
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