A jury found evidence from a Georgia man’s own Instagram account showing he intended to “pop and dip” just before killing his victim, leading to his conviction for murder.
Three years to the day after Geoffrey Canty, 19, was shot and killed in 2021, Shamel Crowder, 24, was found guilty in Clayton County Superior Court on December 30 after a trial that ended on December 20. Crowder was given a life sentence without the possibility of release plus 25 years on the same day as the judgment.
The district attorney’s office claims that in the afternoon of December 20, 2021, Crowder met with Canty in order to sell him a gun for the $300 that was agreed upon. However, Crowder used the rifle he had promised to sell Canty to shoot him three times in the stomach after receiving his cash. Crowder left Canty to perish in the parking lot of his place of employment after keeping the money and the rifle in his pocket.
Additionally, two witnesses to the crime were taken into custody and put on trial as codefendants.
The state used Crowder’s personal social media behavior as part of its evidence against him. According to the Clayton News-Daily, the DA showed Crowder’s own Instagram post, which was created just minutes prior to his encounter with Canty. Crowder allegedly stated in the post that he intended to “pop and dip.” Minutes before Crowder shot Canty, the post was posted online.
Crowder was found guilty of two counts of felony murder, two counts of aggravated assault, two counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and malice murder, among other offenses connected to the incident.