McNabb v. State, 313 Ga. 701

Infant Caliyah McNabb (born Sept. 23, 2017) was last seen in the home of parents/first cousins Christopher McNabb and Cortney Bell on the morning of Oct. 7, 2017 and reported missing that day.
McNabb had used methamphetamine the prior night and exhibited paranoid/bizarre behavior that morning; he went into nearby woods to search and later led officers to a wooded area he had visited.
On Oct. 8 a neighbor found a blue Nike drawstring bag in the woods containing Caliyah’s body wrapped in a T‑shirt and debris; some clothing in the bag belonged to McNabb.
Autopsy showed contemporaneous blunt‑force head trauma causing rapid death; manner ruled homicide; leaves/debris suggested the body had been in a wooded area.
McNabb fled when informed the body was found, was later arrested soaked and muddy, and made statements to investigators implicating others and admitting drug use; no other suspect leads proved viable.
McNabb was convicted of malice murder and concealing the death of another; on appeal he challenged (1) evidentiary sufficiency and (2) trial counsel’s failure to object to evidence of drug use, domestic abuse, and the cousins’ familial relationship. The Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of evidence for malice murder and concealing death	McNabb: evidence was entirely circumstantial and did not exclude reasonable alternative hypotheses or identify who inflicted the injuries	State: circumstantial evidence (body found in McNabb’s bag with his clothes, he was last with the child, his drug use and behavior, flight, and lack of other viable suspects) supported guilt	Convictions affirmed; evidence sufficient under Jackson v. Virginia and OCGA § 24‑14‑6 to permit a jury to find malice and concealment beyond a reasonable doubt
Ineffective assistance — failure to object to evidence of drug use and physical abuse of Bell	McNabb: counsel unreasonably failed to exclude irrelevant, prejudicial character evidence	State: counsel negotiated limits on admissible evidence as strategic; drug use and abuse evidence was admissible (intrinsic, state of mind, context)	No deficient performance or prejudice; counsel’s strategic decisions were reasonable
Ineffective assistance — failure to object to evidence that McNabb and Bell are first cousins	McNabb: evidence irrelevant and prejudicial character evidence under Rules 403/404(b)	State: familial ties were relevant to witness relationships, bias, and credibility; Rule 404(b) inapplicable; objections would be meritless	No ineffective assistance; evidence admissible to show relationships and credibility, so failure to object was not deficient

Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (due process sufficiency standard)
Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (ineffective assistance standard)
Stuckey v. State, 301 Ga. 767 (Georgia application of Strickland)
Cochran v. State, 305 Ga. 827 (circumstantial evidence must exclude every other reasonable hypothesis)
McKinney v. State, 300 Ga. 562 (hidden body + last seen alive supports murder conviction)
Collett v. State, 305 Ga. 853 (circumstantial evidence linking defendant to body found near home)
Bennett v. State, 301 Ga. 874 (drug use and post‑incident behavior can be probative circumstantial evidence)
Edenfield v. State, 293 Ga. 370 (concealing a body in woods supports concealment conviction)
Olds v. State, 299 Ga. 65 (Rule 403 exclusion is extraordinary remedy; probative value ordinarily admitted]