The Georgia Supreme Court affirmed the murder conviction and life sentence of Christopher Sellers in a decision issued Jan. 5, rejecting his appeal of charges stemming from the 2019 shooting death of Thedarious Mitchell in DeKalb County.

Sellers was convicted on all six counts following a jury trial held from Oct. 9 to Oct. 11, 2023. The charges included malice murder, two counts of felony murder, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. The trial court sentenced Sellers to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the malice murder conviction, plus consecutive sentences of 10 years for the firearm possession charge and five years for possessing a firearm during a felony.

The case originated from events that occurred on April 2, 2019, when Mitchell was fatally shot. A DeKalb County grand jury returned an indictment against Sellers on Dec. 1, 2020, formally charging him with the multiple felony counts. The lengthy gap between the crime and indictment reflects the time needed for the investigation and prosecution preparation in the complex case.

Following his conviction, Sellers filed a motion for new trial on Nov. 2, 2023, which he later amended through new counsel on Aug. 9, 2024. The trial court heard arguments on the motion on Nov. 25, 2024, but denied it by written order on Jan. 3, 2025. Sellers then filed a timely notice of appeal to the Georgia Supreme Court on Jan. 21, 2025.

In his appeal, Sellers raised multiple arguments challenging his conviction. He contended that the evidence presented at trial was insufficient as a matter of constitutional due process to support his conviction for malice murder. This type of challenge, known as a sufficiency of evidence claim, requires appellate courts to review whether any rational jury could have found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt based on the evidence presented.

Sellers also argued that the trial court committed plain error by instructing the jury on parties to a crime, though the full details of this argument were not included in the available court records. Plain error review is a strict standard that requires defendants to show that an obvious error occurred that affected the outcome of the trial, even when no objection was made during the proceedings.

The case was docketed to the August 2025 term of the Georgia Supreme Court and was submitted for decision on the briefs, meaning the court decided the appeal based on written arguments rather than oral presentations from the attorneys.

Justice Colvin authored the opinion for the court, though the complete reasoning behind the court's decision to affirm the conviction was not detailed in the available excerpt. The court's affirmance means that Sellers' conviction and sentence will stand, and he will serve life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder of Mitchell.

The conviction on multiple firearm-related charges reflects Georgia's strict laws regarding gun crimes, particularly for individuals with prior felony convictions. The consecutive sentences for the firearm charges added 15 years to Sellers' life sentence, ensuring additional punishment for the weapons violations even beyond the life term for murder.

Sellers' remaining charges were either merged or vacated by operation of law, a common occurrence when multiple charges arise from the same conduct. Georgia law requires courts to merge certain charges to prevent double punishment for the same criminal act.

The case represents another example of the Georgia Supreme Court's handling of murder appeals, where defendants frequently challenge the sufficiency of evidence and jury instructions. The court's decision to affirm demonstrates that the justices found the evidence sufficient to support the jury's verdict and that any alleged errors in the trial proceedings did not warrant reversal.

The opinion is subject to modification under Georgia Supreme Court Rule 27, which allows for reconsideration motions and editorial revisions. The final version will be published in the Advance Sheets for the Georgia Reports and will replace any prior versions on the court's website.

With this affirmance, Sellers has exhausted his direct appeal rights in the Georgia court system. Any further challenges to his conviction would need to proceed through post-conviction relief procedures or potentially federal habeas corpus proceedings, though such efforts face significant procedural and substantive hurdles.

The decision provides closure for the victim's family and confirms that the DeKalb County prosecution successfully proved its case against Sellers for the 2019 murder of Thedarious Mitchell.