A Richmond County jury found one defendant not guilty of murder and convicted the other of felony murder and a gun charge in the 2019 shooting death of Sanquan Sims.
After deliberating more than three hours Feb. 2, the jury found Tony Darby, 28, guilty of felony murder, meaning he caused Sims’ death while committing a felony, and possessing a gun while committing the crime.
Superior Court Judge Ashley Wright sentenced Darby to life in prison without the possibility of parole followed by five more years for the gun charge.
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“Sanquan Sims was killed over a $300 drug debt. The value of life in Richmond County is that poor,” Wright said. “We have to teach our children that life is valuable and it is sacred. We have to teach them how to solve problems without causing absolute devastation.”
The jury found the second defendant, Patrick Noble, 27, not guilty of malice murder, felony murder or possessing a gun while committing a felony.
Prosecutors contended Darby was the second shooter in an “ambush” of Sims stemming from a dispute over $300 Noble had paid Sims for what turned out to be fake pills. Darby turned off his phone and was missing for 122 days, hiding in the area until U.S. Marshals located him, Assistant District Attorney William Hammond said.
In the parking lot of Magnolia Park apartments, Sims was shot seven times including in the back as he was walking away and while he was already down on the ground, Hammond said.
Darby’s attorney, Kara Stangl, said in closing arguments Darby merely ran up on “trouble he had nothing to do with,” and was unaware of the dispute between Noble and Sims that gave rise to a shootout.
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Attorney for Noble, Peter Johnson, questioned prosecutors’ reliance on a single eyewitness, a cousin of the victim, despite there being a crowd at the scene. He said prosecutors brought in experts to speak about the men’s gang ties to prejudice the jury.
None of the guns used in the homicide have ever been recovered. Experts testified both 9mm and 38 caliber bullets had been used in the seven gunshot wounds Sims had.
Prosecutor Meghan Bowden said the shortage of witnesses was due to fear. The one witness had to move while others don’t want to have to leave their homes, she said.
Sims might have been in a gang and selling fake drugs, but he was also “a human being. He was a son. He was a best friend and he was a father and his life mattered,” Bowden said. “He’s not the only one that suffered the loss.”
Susan McCord is a staff writer with The Augusta Press. Reach her at susan@theaugustapress.com
