An Atlanta man, who had faced murder charges twice before, was convicted Tuesday and sentenced Wednesday to life in prison without parole, authorities said.
Andrew Neloms, 30, was found guilty of shooting Octavius Brooks, 43, at a block party outside the Brentwood Meadows Apartments on Alison Court in southwest Atlanta on Nov. 1, 2016, according to a Fulton County District Attorney’s Office news release.
In the parking lot, Neloms confronted Brooks and claimed he previously flirted with his girlfriend, the release said. Neloms entered an apartment, and Brooks walked to his car and sat inside while listening to music.
Neloms then walked up to the vehicle with a 12-gauge shotgun and fired two shots, striking Brooks in the heart and back, the release said. Brooks was found dead at the scene.
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Neloms ran from the scene, and a month later, a friend of Neloms told investigators that he bragged about killing Brooks and said he was on the run for the murder, the release said.
In January 2017, Neloms was arrested in Savannah, and he admitted he confronted Brooks about flirting with his girlfriend but claimed the shooting was in self-defense, the release said.
During the trial, Neloms testified in his own defense, and when asked to demonstrate to the jury how he shot Brooks, he used a replica shotgun to re-enact the crime and laughed in front of the jury after pulling the trigger, the release said.
Neloms was also a murder suspect in two other cases, the release said. He was found not guilty of a woman’s homicide on Feb. 14, 2010. The state dropped a murder case against Neloms on March 10, 2016, after the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed the trial court’s granting of a motion to suppress a firearm found in Neloms’ bedroom.
Neloms has been arrested 17 times, including seven felonies, the release said. He was convicted of arson in 2016.
On Tuesday, he was convicted of murder, felony murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, the release said.
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