District Attorney Keith Higgins announces that Rodriquez Lamont Hamilton, 28, of Brunswick, was convicted of Felony Murder, Aggravated Assault and two counts of Possession of a Firearm During Commission of a Felony following a jury trial held in Glynn County Superior Court that ended on December 21, 2023. The charges stem from the November 2, 2022, shooting death of Jamarius Cowart, 24, of Brunswick, Georgia, and the wounding of Allysia Bryant, 27, also of Brunswick, Georgia. Bryant is the mother of Hamilton’s two children.
Evidence presented at trial showed that Hamilton and Bryant had been in a relationship since meeting in high school. Their relationship, as described by Bryant, was toxic. There was an extensive history of domestic violence as well as controlling behavior by Hamilton in the form of taking or damaging Bryant’s property. Hamilton also had a long history of cheating on Bryant with other women.
Six months prior to the shooting, Bryant started seeing Cowart, which angered Hamilton. On at least two occasions, he followed Bryant to Cowart’s apartment. Approximately a week prior to the shooting, Hamilton and Bryant argued over her seeing Cowart, and Hamilton punched her in the face.
On the night of November 2nd, Bryant told Hamilton she was going to church. At the time, Bryant and Hamilton were still staying in the same residence together. Instead, Bryant went to 1800 Mexican Restaurant in Brunswick to see Cowart, who was a waiter there. After Cowart finished his shift, Bryant began to drive him back to his apartment, off of Crispen Boulevard. Surveillance video from various businesses along Crispen Boulevard showed Hamilton’s silver F150 turn onto Crispen Boulevard minutes before Bryant did in her vehicle. Hamilton then parked next to the Winn Dixie and waited for Bryant to pass by. Both Bryant and Cowart noticed Hamilton’s truck and saw him begin to follow them. While stopped at a red light at the intersection of Crispen Boulevard and Old Jesup Road, Hamilton pulled alongside the passenger side of Bryant’s car. He then fired five rounds from a handgun into the open passenger side window of Bryant’s car before driving off.
Bryant, who was shot once in her buttocks, immediately called 911 and identified her “baby daddy” as the shooter. She was able to flag down a Glynn County police officer and stated the same to him as well as to other officers and detectives. Cowart was shot multiple times and was hit in his heart, lung, and spleen. He died on scene.
Following the shooting, Hamilton ditched his truck at a friend’s home and then went on the run until surrendering to police with his attorney on December 9, 2022.
According to Chief Assistant District Attorney Nigel Lush, who prosecuted the case for the State, “Sadly this is another example of the not uncommon story of domestic violence, where the violence and the controlling behavior continues to escalate. In this case it culminated in a deadly shooting. Not only did the defendant shoot the mother of his own children, but he murdered a man who had nothing to do with their relationship. The shooting in this case was premeditated and cold blooded. Mr. Cowart was the father of two children who will now grow up without their father.”
Hamilton’s sentencing was held on December 21, 2023, immediately after the verdict was announced. Several members of Cowart’s family were present and spoke of their enormous pain over their loss. Glynn County Superior Court Judge Roger B. Lane sentenced Hamilton to the maximum sentence: life in prison without the possibility of parole plus a consecutive 30 years in prison.
The case was investigated by the Glynn County Police Department with Detective Ethan Varnadoe being the lead investigator.
Members of the media with further questions may contact the Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office at 912-554-7200.
