State v. Barnett

*380EAGLES, Chief Judge.

Defendant Kendall Jermaine Barnett was tried and found guilty of first-degree felony murder in Gaston County Superior Court on 2 December 1998. From a sentence imposing life imprisonment without parole, defendant appeals. After careful review, we conclude defendant received a fair trial free from prejudicial error.

The evidence presented at trial tended to show that shortly after 9:00 a.m. on 17 July 1996, customers of the Simply Amazing Grocery Store (store) in Gastonia, North Carolina found Max Hightower (victim), a store employee, dead behind the counter. At the time,…