Paul Edward Guerrant

DALTON, Ga. — Ann Guerrant waited in the courtroom, wondering if the jury’s deliberations — which stretched four-and-a-half hours — meant anything other than a guilty verdict for Aaron Jerome Howell in the death of her brother, Paul.

When the jury returned Tuesday evening at 6:15 for the verdict, she heard the words she wanted to hear.

Howell was found guilty of murder, aggravated assault and aggravated battery for the beating of Paul Guerrant on Dec. 22, 2014. Howell showed no emotion as the verdicts were read by Superior Court Judge Cindy Morris. Sentencing before Morris is set for June 13.

Asked if she had gotten some closure, Ann Guerrant said yes.

“I was getting a little nervous as the jury deliberated, but that was the only time,” she said.

District Attorney Bert Poston said Guerrant had been struck 24 times with a ball-peen hammer by Howell and was left to die on the pavement of Dozier Street. The jury consisted of eight men and four women, with what appeared to be one black and four Hispanics. Howell is black and Guerrant was white.

The state had not been able to provide a firm motive for the slaying and had no forensic evidence proving a connection between Howell and Guerrant on either Howell’s clothing or the hammer. There were no witnesses to the attack.

“This was not an ironclad case,” Ann Guerrant said. “I only got worried when the jury was taking a while for deliberations. To me, absolutely, I have no doubt that the right man has been convicted in this crime. To me, if you take everything in totality, it has to be him. I am very comfortable that the right person was on trial and was convicted in this case.”

District Attorney Bert Poston, who prosecuted the case for the state, agreed the case was not a “slam dunk,” as two recent murder trials in the district had been. 

“I think we have gotten spoiled with the Skyy Mims trial and the Orlando Ramirez case before that where you had the actual killing on video,” Poston said. “They are not all going to be like that. This was a case that was largely circumstantial and largely dependent on testimony from some people who are not normally the people you would want to be your witnesses.”

Two of the state’s main witnesses were James Williams Jr., who admitted to doing cocaine and getting Howell a prostitute the night he said Howell confessed to “killing someone” in January 2015, and Sammy Williams (no relation), who Howell stayed with the night of Dec. 22, 2014, and who has a long history of substance abuse arrests. The investigation didn’t have many leads until James Williams Jr.’s uncle contacted police and relayed the information Williams said Howell shared. 

Clothing Howell was wearing the night of the attack was found on Jan. 6, 2015, in woods close to where Paul Guerrant’s body was found on Dozier Street. Sammy Williams had told police those woods were where Howell had left some items. 

“Dalton Police Department did a phenomenal job in this case with very little to work with,” Poston said. “That night, they didn’t know who he (Guerrant) was, why he was there, where he was going — nothing. Just a guy laying in the road. They poured a lot of resources into it and started to unravel it. Like in a lot of cases, you get a break at some point and you have to jump on that break and pour more resources into exploring that. They did.”

“What I think is important for the community to understand is that it doesn’t matter who the victim is. Every life is precious,” Poston said. “People who knew Paul Guerrant cared about him, but to a lot of people, he is just some homeless guy around town. He wasn’t some wealthy person’s son. He was just this guy, and yet the Dalton Police Department still put the energy and the effort into it to fully investigate it.”

Poston said he always trusted in his case. 

“When you put it all together, we felt like we had a compelling case and we felt like we could get a guilty verdict when we took it to trial,” he said. “The Public Defender’s Office did a really good job, I thought, in presenting their case, and their closing argument was very good.” 

Howell’s attorney, Cat Pyne with the Public Defender’s Office, was disappointed in the verdict. 

“We, of course, thank the jury for their time and the obvious thought they put into this. We do disagree and we will be filing a motion for a new trial before the end of the week,” she said. “I think that is all I have to say today.” 

The defense wrapped up its presentation in less than a half hour Tuesday morning. 

Pyne and Poston each presented closing statements in the morning after the defense called three witnesses. After a lunch break, Morris read jury instructions and dismissed the jury for deliberations at 1:42 p.m.

As he had through the entirety of the case, Howell sat at the defense table up to that point with his back slightly hunched forward and with his expression rarely changing. 

During her close, Pyne said the burden of proof lies with the state and the state had failed to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt. 

“Aaron Howell did not kill Paul Guerrant, and the state has not proven otherwise,” she said. “They lied about having evidence in attempts to get him to confess. Confess to something he didn’t do. They needed that confession because they know they don’t have enough. They know they don’t have any DNA evidence. They know they don’t have any blood evidence. They don’t have enough.”

Pyne said the state’s case had too many holes to warrant a conviction. 

“Assumptions aren’t evidence,” she said. “There are a lot of assumptions the state is asking you to make. They want you to assume a hammer with no forensic evidence was the murder weapon. They want you to assume a person who could strike a person 24 times in a brutal manner wouldn’t get any blood on them. … They want you to assume a lot of things. They want you to assume he is guilty without any evidence at all. Nothing placing him at the scene. Nothing with the murder weapon in his hand. Nothing at all.”

“Paul didn’t deserve to die that night,” Poston said in his closing statement. “Everything points to the defendant. Paul had a big smile and a big heart. The police have done their job. Hold (Howell) accountable for what he did. Find him accountable for the murder of Paul Guerrant.”