LAFAYETTE, Ga. — A Chickamauga man was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison with the possibility of parole for murdering a man during a 2022 road rage incident.
Jeremy Dewayne McCrary was sentenced Wednesday at the Walker County Courthouse, a few weeks after a jury found him guilty of felony murder in connection with Danny Claire’s death. He was given five additional years on top of the life sentence.
McCrary fatally shot Claire on March 22, 2022, at a Dollar General store parking lot.
McCrary was also found guilty June 2 of aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony but acquitted of malice murder in connection with the killing, according to court testimony.
Walker County prosecutors provided recorded jail calls between McCrary and his wife to be played during the hearing. Much of McCrary’s conversations were unintelligible over the courtroom speaker, but he could be heard cursing about the county at one point.
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McCrary acted as though he was the victim in this case, but he is not the one sitting in an urn in his family’s living room, prosecutors said, adding he had shown zero remorse for killing Claire, 53, of, Chickamauga.
Claire’s widow, two sons and two daughters were forced to learn how to live without his presence, according to prosecutors.
McCrary also allegedly said he was not sorry for shooting Claire and sending him “straight to hell.”
He did not make any statement to the court before the sentence was imposed.
The incident occurred after Claire and McCrary aggressively drove toward each other on Lee Clarkston Road, east of Chickamauga, the Walker County Sheriff’s Office previously said in a statement.
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McCrary and another individual were riding motorcycles while Claire was driving an SUV, according to the Sheriff’s Office. After a traffic incident, the three men eventually stopped in the parking lot of the Dollar General at 15 Garretts Chapel Road.
Claire and McCrary immediately engaged in a scuffle, the statement said. McCrary then fired his 9mm handgun once, and the bullet struck Claire in the chest.
He was transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. There was no evidence the men knew each other prior to the encounter.
Officials initially decided not to press charges against McCrary in connection with the shooting, but a grand jury ultimately indicted him in September 2022.
Contact Sofia Saric at ssaric@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6476.