A Georgia mechanic has been found guilty of murder in the death of one of his friends, whose remains were found along a “stretch of freeway” about five years after authorities said he had been shot to death.
Raymond Leverett was delivered a life sentence in connection with the September 2018 murder John Flemmingwho was known to loved ones as “J3,” the Macon Judicial District Attorney’s office announced in a Saturday, Jan. 24, press release.
Leverett’s sentence, which comes “without the possibility of parole plus life consecutively,” came after a jury convicted him of first degree murder, armed robbery, aggravated assault and felony murder, according to the district attorney’s office.
Information on Leverett’s legal representation was not immediately available.
“Justice has been served for John Flemming and his family,” the district attorney said Anita R. Howard he said in a statement. “This verdict holds Raymond Leverett accountable for a profound betrayal of trust that ended in tragedy.”
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Prosecutors said Leverett fatally shot Flemming on Sept. 19, 2018, after authorities say Flemming went to Leverett to ask for “reimbursement” for backlogged “automotive work” he had already paid Leverett to complete.
The men were known to be friends, the Macon Telegraph informed
In the days leading up to the murder, Leverett and Flemming were reported to have fallen out with each other when Leverett took about five months to work on a Chevy that Flemming had left with him, according to the paper.
Leverett eventually began planning to kill Flemming, according to prosecutors, the newspaper reported.
Leverett is accused of fatally shooting Flemming after driving his friend to a doctor’s appointment regarding treatment for a rattlesnake bite, he said. the Telegraph.
After the hospital visit, Leverett allegedly “lured” Fleming into a warehouse where he shot and killed him, the newspaper reported.
Flemming’s girlfriend reported her missing that month, WGXA reported. He was 53 years old when he died.
Years later, in 2023, Flemming’s remains were found along a road in East Macon, according to prosecutors.
During the jury trial, the district attorney’s office said, “The State successfully demonstrated that financial pressures led Leverett to commit this crime.”
The office said evidence collected by the Bibb County Sheriff’s Department, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the FBI implicated Leverett in the murder.
Some of the evidence included phone records that revealed Leverett was with Flemming the day he was killed, according to prosecutors.
Flemmings’ car was also located at a storage facility, which was owned by Leverett’s former boss, the district attorney’s office said.
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Leverett is also accused of pawning Flemming’s personal belongings after the murder.
Witnesses also testified about Leverett’s “financial situation and sudden access to cash on the day of the murder,” prosecutors said.
Before Leverett’s sentence was read in court, Judge Connie Williford addressed Flemming’s loved ones, according to the Telegraphand he said, “Nothing that happens here can undo what has been done.”
“But please know that this court has a solemn respect for the life of John Fleming III and the remarkable love and strength of his large family and many friends,” Williford added.
More than half the room was made up of Flemming’s family and friends, the newspaper reported.