COLUMBUS, Ga. (WRBL) -- It took a Muscogee County Superior Court jury just over 30 minutes of deliberations Monday to find Brandon Senior guilty in the August 2017 daylight murder of Tamir Harris.
Senior is facing life without the possibility of parole in the August 2017 execution-style killing of Harris in North Highland.
The jury did not begin deliberating until 1 p.m. and Judge Maureen Gottfied got a note from the foreman at 1:38 that a verdict had been reached.
Senior was charged with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm while committing a felony. He was convicted on all four counts.
Senior showed no emotion as the verdict was read. Three of Harris' relatives were in the courtroom and one wiped away a tear as the verdict was read.
Assistant District Attorney Kimberly Schwartz and defense attorney Anthony Johnson made their closing arguments Monday morning.
Earlier in the trial, Johnson told jurors one of the toughest things they were going to have to do was accept the drug culture that existed in North Highland at the time. The victim was a known drug dealer.
“Accepting. I disagree. We do not accept this,” Schwartz said. “Ladies and gentlemen, we do not accept this at all. Is it acceptable – is it acceptable – to any of you for this man to be gunned down in broad daylight, two miles from the seat of government here? … Do you find that acceptable? Is it acceptable for the man to be shot down in front of his children?”
Harris was shot in the back of his head while he was standing next to his 2-year-old son.
Schwartz told the jury that eyewitnesses, the gun found hours after the shooting and Harris’ DNA evidence on Senior’s shoes point directly to Senior.
Johnson pointed to mistaken identity and a compromised crime scene as the primary defense. He also questioned the credibility of Toyee Britton, Senior’s girlfriend and one of the state’s key witnesses.
Up to the last statement of his closing argument, Johnson maintained his client was innocent.
“I am not going to say that this is an easy verdict,” Johnson. “It’s a just verdict – not guilty. You should look at the evidence. You should acknowledge the hurt. You should acknowledge the pain.”
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