A 24-year-old Gwinnett County man has been convicted of felony murder, drug and weapons charges in connection with a 2015 New Year’s Day killing.
Quindarius Kehsun Morton was convicted on two felony murder charges and one charge each of aggravated assault, sale of cocaine and possession of a firearm or knife during commission of a felony on Friday afternoon after a four-day trial.
Morton shot and killed 22-year-old Reginald Bien-Aime on Jan. 1, 2015 during a cocaine deal, the Gwinnett County District Attorney's Office said. Morton drove to a Buford apartment complex with two other people. Two men, including Bien-Aime, approached the car that Morton was riding in. When the driver of the car got out and Bien-Aime got into the driver's seat, Morton shot Bien-Aime "at least six times" in the head, shoulder and chest, and fled the car, "getting rid of" the gun, according to the DA's office.
By the time officers arrived, Bien-Aime was dead. Morton turned himself in to police four days later.
Morton claimed the shooting was in self-defense, the DA's office said. His lawyer, Elizabeth Leanne Chancey, told the AJC in 2015 that Bien-Aime was the aggressor and was the first one to draw a weapon.
Morton’s sentencing has been postponed to a later date. Felony murder convictions are eligible for the death penalty or life in prison in Georgia. The DA’s office is not seeking the death penalty in this case.
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