HOUSTON COUNTY, Georgia — A Houston County man who killed a US Marine in 2019 had his murder conviction upheld by the Supreme Court of Georgia, according to court documents released on Wednesday.
Quavion Rountree was convicted of killing 20-year-old Private Anahitdeep Singh Sandhu of Beaufort, S.C.
Rountree shot and killed Sandhu at a Perry apartment complex on April 28, 2019. On July 7, 2021, Rountree was sentenced to life in prison for Malice Murder after he was found guilty by a jury in June 2021.
Since then, Rountree has filed appeals and has requested a new trial. Thus far, he has been denied on each of his appeals, the latest by the Supreme Court of Georgia.
Rountree says that the jury was not given the option of voluntary manslaughter or mutual combat.
He said he felt threatened by Sandhu and acted in self-defense despite witnesses testifying that Rountree took the gun and shot Sandhu after others tried to hold him back.
The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that Rountree failed to object when the charges were read in court and that his defense counsel said there were no objections when asked if there were.
They also stated in court documents that Rountree’s argument doesn’t apply or rise to voluntary manslaughter as “angry statements alone do not amount to ‘serious provocation’ and that “neither fear that someone is going to pull a weapon nor fighting are the types of provocation that demand a voluntary manslaughter charge.”
All the justices affirmed their decision to uphold the murder conviction against Rountree. Rountree is serving a life sentence for malice murder.