A Bulloch County jury deliberated three hours before finding Antonio Tramaine Gibson guilty of shooting two Georgia Southern University basketball players in 2005.
Bulloch County Superior Court Judge Gates Peed sentenced Gibson, 25, Glennville, to a maximum sentence of 55 years in prison for the conviction of two counts of aggravated assault, two counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
During the two-day trial April 24 and 25, witnesses who saw the shootings testified, giving details about the scene that unfolded Oct. 2, 2005 at Legends Bar and Grill on Old Register Road.
Ogeechee Judicial Circuit Assistant District Attorney Daphne Jarriel, who prosecuted the case, said Statesboro Police Det. James Winskey also testified that he and other officers responded to a call just after 2 a.m. that night regarding "shots fired."
Winskey described the scene, stating there were 500-600 people outside. The shooting followed an argument between several GSU basketball players and a group of men from Glennville, he said.
At some point Gibson, who was with the Glennville group, got an SKS assault rifle from a vehicle and began firing towards the group of GSU basketball players, injuring players Dwayne Nathaniel Foreman and Robert Louis Robinson.
Foreman suffered a gunshot wound to the scalp and wounds to the shoulder from bullet fragments while Robinson suffered gunshot wounds to his shoulder, side and arm, he said.
Winskey said warrants were issued for Gibson, who had fled the scene and avoided law enforcement for 10 months until his capture.
Tattnall County Sheriff's Deputy Timothy Phillips also testified, describing an incident when he and a Glennville Police officer saw Gibson in a convenience store. When Phillips tried to approach Gibson, he fled, Jarriel said.
She said Butts County Sheriff's Deputy Gary Long also testified about stopping a vehicle for speeding in which Gibson was a passenger. He fled into the woods and evaded a K-9 unit, she said.
In August 2006, members of the Evans County Sheriff's Department, Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Tri-Circuit Drug Task Force were executing a search warrant for an unrelated case and inadvertently found Gibson, she said.
Even then Gibson tried to elude capture by giving officers a false name, and had in his possession "multiple forms of fake identification bearing his picture, but issued in someone else's name," Jarriel said.
After the jury of 10 women and two men found Gibson guilty on all charges, Jarriel recommended the maximum sentence, telling the court "it is very fortunate that the case involved two counts of aggravated assault and not two counts of murder," adding that the victims' wounds could have been worse and proven fatal.
Peed sentenced Gibson to 20 years for each aggravated assault count, to run consecutively; five years each for the two counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, to run consecutively; and five years for the charge of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Gibson was convicted in 1999 by the Tattnall County Superior Court for marijuana possession with intent to distribute, felony obstruction of law enforcement, and misdemeanor obstruction, she said.
Bulloch County Superior Court Judge Gates Peed sentenced Gibson, 25, Glennville, to a maximum sentence of 55 years in prison for the conviction of two counts of aggravated assault, two counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
During the two-day trial April 24 and 25, witnesses who saw the shootings testified, giving details about the scene that unfolded Oct. 2, 2005 at Legends Bar and Grill on Old Register Road.
Ogeechee Judicial Circuit Assistant District Attorney Daphne Jarriel, who prosecuted the case, said Statesboro Police Det. James Winskey also testified that he and other officers responded to a call just after 2 a.m. that night regarding "shots fired."
Winskey described the scene, stating there were 500-600 people outside. The shooting followed an argument between several GSU basketball players and a group of men from Glennville, he said.
At some point Gibson, who was with the Glennville group, got an SKS assault rifle from a vehicle and began firing towards the group of GSU basketball players, injuring players Dwayne Nathaniel Foreman and Robert Louis Robinson.
Foreman suffered a gunshot wound to the scalp and wounds to the shoulder from bullet fragments while Robinson suffered gunshot wounds to his shoulder, side and arm, he said.
Winskey said warrants were issued for Gibson, who had fled the scene and avoided law enforcement for 10 months until his capture.
Tattnall County Sheriff's Deputy Timothy Phillips also testified, describing an incident when he and a Glennville Police officer saw Gibson in a convenience store. When Phillips tried to approach Gibson, he fled, Jarriel said.
She said Butts County Sheriff's Deputy Gary Long also testified about stopping a vehicle for speeding in which Gibson was a passenger. He fled into the woods and evaded a K-9 unit, she said.
In August 2006, members of the Evans County Sheriff's Department, Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Tri-Circuit Drug Task Force were executing a search warrant for an unrelated case and inadvertently found Gibson, she said.
Even then Gibson tried to elude capture by giving officers a false name, and had in his possession "multiple forms of fake identification bearing his picture, but issued in someone else's name," Jarriel said.
After the jury of 10 women and two men found Gibson guilty on all charges, Jarriel recommended the maximum sentence, telling the court "it is very fortunate that the case involved two counts of aggravated assault and not two counts of murder," adding that the victims' wounds could have been worse and proven fatal.
Peed sentenced Gibson to 20 years for each aggravated assault count, to run consecutively; five years each for the two counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, to run consecutively; and five years for the charge of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Gibson was convicted in 1999 by the Tattnall County Superior Court for marijuana possession with intent to distribute, felony obstruction of law enforcement, and misdemeanor obstruction, she said.