COLUMBUS, GA (AP) -- A Bosnian War refugee has been given a life sentence for murdering a Mexican immigrant at a Columbus construction site in 2004.
Ekrem Jakupovic, 43, was convicted Wednesday in Muscogee County Superior Court of murdering 38-year-old Alfredo Sanchez on Sept. 11, 2004, at Columbus Park Crossing.
Judge Bobby Peters handed down a life sentence, the mandatory sentence for murder in Georgia. Jakupovic was also given a separate 20-year sentence for shooting and wounding Sanchez' brother Juan during the same incident.
Jakupovic, founder of a Lilburn, Ga., construction company, came to the U.S. 11 years ago from Bosnia and was able to bring five brothers to this country. Like Jakupovic, Sanchez was an immigrant. He came to Covington, Ga., from Mexico and owned a welding business that employed several of his brothers.
Jakupovic shot Sanchez to death on the roof of a building, witnesses said. According to testimony, the two men got into a dispute on the ground when Sanchez asked Jakupovic to move construction materials on the roof. The lumber was near the spot that Sanchez and his crew needed to weld to finish the job.
"This is unfortunate," Peters said. "You have two individuals who came to this country from foreign lands. Both men worked hard to build their own companies. Then you had this happen over $600 to $800 worth of lumber."