First, he orchestrated a staged auto accident in Georgia. Then he murdered a co-conspirator in 2019 in a disagreement over payment from insurance proceeds related to the faked crash.
Today, Norman Uriah Simmonds Jr., 45, of Lilburn, Georgia, is headed to life behind bars after he was convicted last week of shooting Tyrese Washington in the head.
DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston said in a statement that Douglasville police began investigating after an off-duty officer heard shots at an apartment complex on Aug. 31, 2019. The officer found Washington dead in his apartment.
The investigation found that Simmonds had told a friend that he was going to Washington’s place that day in 2019 to to see about a financial disagreement. The state insurance commissioner’s office then informed police that investigators were looking into a staged accident with a U-Haul truck in Clarkston, Boston said in the press release.
Washington had told investigators that Simmonds had set up the accident and promised Washington $1,000 for his role in the scheme. Phone records showed that a call to Washington shortly before the shooting came from a phone that likely belonged to Simmonds, prosecutors said. Location data from the cell phone service placed the phone at Simmonds’ home and then at the crime scene.
Judge Daniel Coursey sentenced Simmonds to life without parole.
News reports indicate that this was not Simmonds’ first prosecution. In 2013, Simmonds was sent to federal prison for eight years after he was convicted of using “skimming” devices to steal credit card information.
Related: Scammers Hope for Easy Money by Crashing U-Haul Trucks
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