UPDATE: North Carolina Man Gets 25 Years to Life for Murdering Inwood Man

11/28/11 Update:

James Currie has been sentenced to 25 years to life in prison, according to the Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice.

“James Currie’s capacity for extreme violence demanded that he be removed from society, and I applaud today’s sentence,” Rice said. “The streets of Nassau County are safer with this defendant behind bars.”

Original story follows.

A North Carolina man was convicted of murder and other charges on Wednesday after he and an Oceanside man gunned down a man they were buying marijuana from in Inwood in 2010, according to Nassau District Attorney Kathleen Rice.

James Currie, 26, of Charlotte, faces up to 25 years to life in prison after he was convicted by a jury of second-degree murder, three counts of robbery and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree. Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 28.

“This was a senseless act of extreme violence, and all over some drugs and a small amount of money,” Rice said. “Now, one man is dead, another awaits trial, and James Currie is facing decades behind bars.”

At approximately 9 p.m. on Sept. 4, 2010, Currie and Tyshaun Jacobs, 24, of Oceanside, went to the Inwood home of Desmond Kelly to buy marijuana, Rice said. During the transaction, either Currie or Jacobs took out a .357 Magnum revolver and shot Kelly five times, including three times in the back. It is not clear whether Currie or Jacobs pulled the trigger. The two men then stole marijuana and cash from the house.

Currie was arrested about 15 minutes after the shooting, according to Rice. The arresting officers were by the Five Towns Kiwanis Club in May.

Jacobs, who is awaiting trial on identical charges, was arrested two days later.

At the time of his arrest, Currie was on the run from a murder charge in Mecklenberg County in North Carolina for the Aug. 7, 2010, shooting death of Brooks Dangelo Crist, according to the district attorney.

Assistant DA Martin Meaney of the Major Offense Bureau is prosecuting the case for the DA’s Office. Currie is represented by Dana Grossblatt, Esq.