An Augusta man charged with murder accepted a plea negotiation Monday, April 25, that ended his case with an aggravated assault conviction and four-year probation sentence.
Tyrone Lambert, 48, pleaded no contest in Richmond County Superior Court. He was arrested on a murder charge and has been held without bond since February 2021. He was accused of causing the death of 57-year-old Joe Nunnally Jr. by hitting him in the chest with a shovel.
The problem for the prosecution was that the state medical examiner who performed the autopsy on Nunnally listed the cause of death as undetermined, not homicide, said Assistant District Attorney Larry Smith. And a defense expert witness, the chairman of the cardiology department at Augusta University, reported that Nunnally wasn’t killed by a blow to the chest.
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Defense attorney Jennifer Cross said Monday the prosecution has no case. There was no physical evidence such as a shovel collected by the sheriff investigators, and it was debatable if Lambert even struck Nunnally, she said. The two witnesses who told investigators that there was a blow changed their stories, and one hasn’t been seen since the night Nunnally died.
Nunnally had a pre-existing heart condition, and the use of alcohol and cocaine was the cause of death, Cross said. But the prosecution continued to push the murder case and opposed Lambert’s requests for bond, leaving him in jail for 14 months, she said. Lambert lost his home and job while jailed, Cross said.
Nunnally’s sister Cassandra Harris questioned the medical opinion and the outcome of the case. Lambert grew up with her family. He was always aggressive, always threatening to kill someone, Harris said. Her brother was the one who always made sure everyone had enough money in hand for the ice cream truck, the one who gathered the younger ones to take them swimming and organize games. Nunnally would threaten to leave Lambert behind the next time because of his bad behavior, but her brother never excluded him, Harris said.
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She wasn’t seeking prison time for Lambert. But he does need help for his mental health, Harris said. But there was no doubt in her mind that her brother’s blood is on Lambert’s hands, she said.
“He knows, he knows if he hadn’t hit my brother that night, he’d still be alive,” Harris said.
Judge Jesse Stone said he understood it was not a perfect resolution to the case, but he believed it was appropriate. He accepted plea negotiated sentence and sentenced Lambert to probation.
Lambert has a pending battery case for allegedly trying to pull a woman out of a vehicle. He was convicted of battery in 2004 for hitting a woman in the head with a beer bottle. In 2002 he was convicted of damaging property for breaking out all the windows in a victim’s vehicle. And in 2001 he was convicted of family violence battery for punching a woman several times, according to court records.
Sandy Hodson is a staff reporter covering courts for The Augusta Press. Reach her at sandy@theaugustapress.com.
