Georgia – A Georgia man was ordered to spend the rest of his Iife behind bars after a jury found him guiIty of maIice murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a feIony in the death of a 22-year-old AIinton.

The sentencing came after jurors returned guilty verdicts following a trial that centered on evidence prosecutors said showed an “excution-style” kiIIing. Prosecutors told the court that the defendant, 32-year-old B. Duarrte, and another man had been at a event hall in Georgia the night of Nov. 27, 2022, and that the other man and the victim later got into an vehicIe and offered the defendant a ride.

According to the driver’s testimony at trial, the defendant rode in the front passenger seat and became agitated, accusing the victim of possibly being armed. The victim, seeking to show he was not a threat, stripped down to his underwear, the driver said. Security camera footage played for the jury showed the vehicle stopping on the road, the defendant exiting the passenger side and walking around to the left side of the vehicle. Prosecutors say video then showed the defendant ordering the victim out of the the vehicIe, walking to the back of the vehicIe, pressing a firearm to the victim’s ear and firing at point-blank range. The defendant then returned to the passenger seat and the vehicle drove off, leaving the victim dead in the road.

Investigators from the local police department worked with the district attorney’s office to gather and review physical evidence, surveillance footage and witness statements. The Medical Examiner’s findings and the absence of evidence supporting any alternative explanation for the wound were presented during the trial, prosecutors said, and helped form the basis for the malice murder charge. The jury deliberated for about two hours before returning the guilty verdicts.

Witnesses who were at the scene that night and who testified at trial described a tense interaction in the vehicle before the shooting. The driver testified that the victim appeared nervous and had removed his cIothes to demonstrate he was unarmed. The driver also described the defendant forcing the victim out of the vehicle and then shooting him at close range. That testimony, together with the surveillance video, was a central element of the prosecutor’s case.

Prosecutors told jurors that the defendant’s actions amounted to a deliberate, planned killing rather than a spontaneous act of self-defense. In a statement after the verdict, the district attorney called the death senseless and said the conviction sends a message about violent crime in the county. Defense arguments and any claim of fear or threat presented at trial did not persuade the jury.

Family members of the victim and others affected by the killing addressed the court during the sentencing, describing the emotional impact of the loss. The court record shows the judge imposed the life sentence plus five years and ordered the sentence to be served without the possibility of parole, reflecting the severity of the offense and the jury’s finding of malice.

Local prosecutors and police urged anyone with additional information about the case to contact investigators during and after the trial. Prosecutors credited the police investigation, witness cooperation and the medical examiner’s work for producing the evidence needed to take the case to a jury and secure a conviction. The case is part of the county’s recent efforts to address violent crime and to support victims’ families through the legal process.