MACON, Ga. — A 29-year-old man was convicted in the shooting death of Deroderick Ridley and the shooting of Marquis Simmons, according to a press release from the Macon District Attorney's Office.
Brandon Tyler, 29, was convicted of malice murder, felony murder and two counts of aggravated assault after a weeklong trial, according to the press release. They say Tyler was sentenced to life in prison plus 20 years.
The shooting on June 19, 2019 happened at the corner of Hillcrest Road and Log Cabin Drive after the so-called "Death Valley" block party.
According to Sheriff David Davis at the time, the large block party started at Simmons Street and Suzanne Drive west Macon. The parking lot at Hillcrest Road and Log Cabin Drive was theorized to be overflow parking, Davis said.
Then, at around 9:38 p.m., they say they received calls about shots fired.
In the press conference, Davis said the shooting happened after an attendee of the block party asked the driver of a black Dodge Charge doing 'burnouts,' which eventually escalated into a short physical fight.
According to the press release from the DA's Office, they believe Tyler drove his car into the parking lot, and a masked gunman then walked out the car's passenger side vehicle and opened fire.
They say the gunman then returned to the car and Tyler drove away from the scene. However, they would then crash their car, and they found the murder weapon still in the car, the press release said.
The DA's Office says that the other shooting victim, Simmons, survived the shooting despite being shot more than 10 times.
When investigators got to the scene, they found 200 shell casings on the ground. In the press conference, Davis said that there were other people with guns in the crowd, so it is unclear how many shots were fired by the gunman.
Tyler will be eligible for parole on the murder charges after 30 years, but Cindy Adams with the DA's Office says he would have to serve 20 more years after that on his aggravated assault charges.
According to previous coverage, Tyler was arrested after a tip was called into the Macon Regional Crimestoppers.
A second man, Kenyatta Sharroid Jones, was also arrested in the shooting. Their charges are still pending, Adams said.