Photos for Headline Surfer® /DAYTONA BEACH – At the age of 26, Alliston George of Daytona Beach could very well spend the rest of his life behind bars for shooting another man in the face with a .38 semi-automatic handgun the afternoon of Oct. 23, 2014, after an apparent soured drug deal.
A jury on Friday found George guilty of Attempted first degree murder with a firearm, which subjects him to Florida's 10-20-life statute, whenever a gun is discharged causing injury, which requires a 25-year-to-life sentence to be imposed. That he's looking at spending the rest of his life behind bars perhaps was a fata com-pleat for this three-time convicted felon.
Here is a synopsis of what occurred on that fateful day as reported in a Daytona Beach police report: George became enraged after arguing with his neighbor, Thomas Lawrence, earlier in the day at a nearby park over a drug transaction.
After returning from the park, George retrieved and loaded a .38 caliber semi-automatic handgun and approached an unarmed Lawrence who was standing outside his apartment with friends.
After bumping Lawrence to get him to turn around, George pulled out the .38 caliber handgun, pointed it at Lawrence’s face and fired one round which entered through Thomas Lawrence’s nose and embedded into his jawbone. George then ran from the scene, leaving Lawrence behind bleeding from the gunshot wound to the face.
After bumping Thomas Lawrence to get him to turn around, Alliston George pulled out the .38 caliber handgun, pointed it at Lawrence’s face and fired one round which entered through Thomas Lawrence’s nose and embedded into his jawbone George then ran from the scene, leaving Lawrence behind bleeding from the gunshot wound to the face.
Multiple witnesses came forward to identify Alliston George as the shooter.
Circuit Judge Terrence Perkins, who presided over the trial, will sentence George at a later date. Information for this update was provided by the Office of State Attorney Ralph Joseph Larizza, which did not indicate how long the jury deliberated before finding the defendant guilty of the attempted murder charge with a firearm.