COVINGTON, Ga. – It took a Newton County Superior Court jury less than 50 minutes to convict a Covington man of murder Thursday afternoon.

Deante Marquette Hall, 38, was accused of killing his longtime friend, 29-year-old Tony Butler by shooting him in the back through a car seat as Butler, Hall and another man, Jeffery Domino, rode in a Gross Point Parkway neighborhood in a Dodge Ram driven by Butler’s brother Levar Andrews July 6, 2016.

After shooting Butler, Hall attempted to turn the gun on Andrews, pointing the weapon at Andrews’ head and pulling the trigger multiple times as the weapon misfired.

According to testimony by Andrews at the trial, Hall continued to try to shoot him before finally pistol whipping him with the Hi-Point 9mm pistol and fleeing the scene. After Hall fled, Andrews and Domino attempted to drive Butler to the hospital before being bogged down in traffic on Salem Road.  Andrews performed CPR on his brother before first responders arrived.

Butler was pronounced dead after being transported to a local hospital.

Prior to the incident, Hall had accused his wife of being romantically involved with the brothers. Testimony presented during the trial indicated that no such relationships existed.

Hall was taken into custody three weeks later by Newton County Sheriff’s Office investigators after being found hiding at a house in Conyers.

After jury selection Monday, Senior Assistant District Attorney Amber Bennett and Assiatant District Attorney Binford  Griffin Bramblett spent Tuesday and Wednesday offering testimony and evidence in the trial. The defense rested Thursday morning without calling any witnesses.

After the verdict and a sentence hearing, Senior Judge J. David Roper of Georgia’s 10th Judicial Administrative District sentenced Hall to life without the possibility of parole plus 10 years.

The Covington News will have more extensive coverage of the four day trial in Sunday’s edition.