MACON, Ga. — Georgia's Supreme Court today upheld murder convictions for two Central Georgia men, both convicted of killing their girlfriends.
The first was Raymond Chambliss, now serving a life sentence for killing Tonia Herring in Forsyth in 2018.
Prosecutors say they fought because he suspected her of stealing his marijuana, she hit him with an umbrella, so he shot her.
His lawyers argued that there wasn't enough evidence to convict him, that he should have faced lesser charges like manslaughter and that his trial lawyer was not effective.
But the state's highest court rejected all those arguments.
Also serving a life sentence, Roy Lee Waters was convicted of killing Melvina Dunlap in Laurens County in 2013.
Investigators found him reading the bible.
He told them that he became upset in church, and later shot Dunlap, but said he didn't know why.
According to court records, he had a history of schizophrenia.
Among other arguments, waters' lawyers argued that his trial lawyer should have brought expert witnesses about his mental state and the prescription drugs he was taking.
But the Supreme Court said the evidence again him was enough to convict him, and expert witnesses likely wouldn't have changed that.
The court rulings in the Chambliss and Waters cases were both unanimous.
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