Ex-cop faces life sentence in murder conviction

By DAVID SIMPSON
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thursday, September 04, 2008
Former Atlanta police officer Harold Lee Render faces a mandatory life prison sentence after being convicted of the murder of a man Render blamed for the death of his son.
A DeKalb County jury returned the guilty verdict Wednesday night, rejecting Render’s claim that he fired in self-defense because he thought Lemarcus Walker had a gun when he encountered him outside a convenience store in south DeKalb on April 30, 2007. Walker was unarmed.
One bullet also struck a bystander, who was permanently disabled.
Render, 52, had left the police force and was a security guard at the time. He had a permit for the gun he carried.
His son had been killed in 2006, and witnesses said there was animosity between Render and Walker over the killing.
Render was to be sentenced later by Superior Court Judge Clarence Seeliger.