DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston announced a conviction by jury trial in the case against a Lilburn man accused of shooting and killing a man who had helped him commit insurance fraud.
On Thursday, August 8, jurors found Norman Uriah Simmonds, Jr., 45, guilty on charges of Malice Murder, two counts of Felony Murder, Aggravated Assault, Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony, and Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon stemming from the murder of Tyrese Washington, 24, on August 31, 2019.
According to the investigation, an off-duty Douglasville Police Department officer heard multiple gunshots in an apartment complex located in the 1000 block of Ashley Creek Circle in Stone Mountain. The officer walked toward the sound. A witness flagged him down and led the officer to the back of one of the apartment buildings. The officer found Washington lying face down with a gunshot wound to the head.
Police later learned Washington had told a friend that he was going to the apartment complex that night because someone there owed him some money. Through phone records investigators discovered Washington got multiple calls and texts from the same phone number in the minutes before the shooting.
During the investigation, a special agent from the Georgia Office of Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner notified DeKalb County Police Department that he had been working on a case in which Washington and others had staged an accident with a U-Haul truck in Clarkston. As part of that investigation into that incident, Washington confessed to being involved in insurance fraud. Washington told investigators that Defendant Simmonds had set up the fake accident and had promised Washington $1,000 for his part in the scheme which Simmonds never paid.
A search warrant revealed that the phone number repeatedly calling Washington before his death belonged to someone named Anthony Jones. Investigators discovered this was likely an alias for Defendant Simmonds as records showed “Jones” and Simmonds shared both birthdate and home address.
Location data from this phone placed it at Defendant Simmonds’ home initially then at the crime scene during the time of murder before returning back to his home.
Senior Judge Daniel Coursey presided over this trial sitting for DeKalb County Superior Court sentenced Defendant Simmonds today to Life without Parole plus five years.
The case assigned to Homicide and Gangs Unit was prosecuted by Chief Senior Assistant District Attorney Josh Geller with assistance from Assistant District Attorney Ellie Harris alongside District Attorney Investigator John Wilbanks while Det. Evans led initial investigations for DeKalb County Police Department.