Georgia’s highest court upheld the murder conviction and life without parole sentence for a man convicted of the 2018 murder of a two-year-old child.

Hassan Shareef Rashad was convicted of the brutal beating death of 2-year-old Adrian “Tank” Mitchell Jr. in November 2021 but appealed that conviction.

Rashad claimed that the evidence was insufficient to convict him of murder and that his attorney at trial failed to protect his constitutional rights. Many of his objections center around the admissibility of gruesome autopsy photos showing the injuries Rashad inflicted on the two-year-old child as well as “evidence of his bad character” submitted at trial.

That evidence included Rashad’s threatening actions toward the child’s grandfather who suspected that Rashad had earlier broken the boy’s leg.

Justices disagreed with his assertions and upheld his conviction, according to an opinion released on Tuesday.

“We are very pleased with the (Georgia) Supreme Court’s opinion on this case,” Floyd County District Attorney Leigh Patterson said. “A little child nicknamed Tank deserved a much better life than was taken from him by the defendant. The defendant’s life without parole sentence stands and he is right where he needs to be.”

WRGA