East Cobb Courts & Trials

Fred Tokars dies in prison; convicted of plotting wife’s 1992 murder

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The convicted mastermind of a notorious murder case in East Cobb nearly three decades ago has died in prison, according to a published report.Fred Tokars dies

Fred Tokars, an attorney convicted of conspiring to kill his wife, Sara Tokars in 1992, died in a federal prison in Pennsylvania last week, according to a story published Wednesday at Law.com.

The report said the cause of death was not specified, and said Tokars’ attorney had been told his client had developed a fever and had been hospitalized.

In 1997, Tokars was convicted of plotting to kill his wife and was sentenced to life without parole for that and other crimes. According to trial testimony, Tokars planned the murder because she had become aware of her husband’s business dealings that involved laundering drug money and racketeering.

Sara Tokars was 39 years old on Nov. 29, 1992, when she and her sons, then ages 4 and 6, returned to their home in the Kings Cove neighborhood after visiting her relatives in Florida.

Before they could enter the house, a gunman forced his way into their vehicle and kidnapped the Tokars family, ordering Sara Tokars to drive out onto a residential street. After she pulled over, she was shot in the head, her boys witnessing in the back seat.

The killing was initially investigated a possible robbery gone wrong.

Curtis Rower, the gunman, and Eddie Lawrence, a real estate developer who had done some business with Tokars, later were indicted for the murder and identified Tokars as orchestrating the scheme to have her killed.

Because of pretrial publicity, Tokars’ murder trial was moved to LaFayette, Ga. A former prosector, he was an acclaimed defense attorney in the metro Atlanta area, and frequently appeared in television commercials advertising his services.

The murder gained nationwide attention and tabloid fare, and was the subject of an episode of the cable program “City Confidential” entitled “Devil Down in Georgia,” which aired in 2002 and was narrated by the late actor Paul Winfield.

During the trial, testimony was revealed that Sara Tokars was seeking a divorce and had information that would have incriminated him on money-laundering activities. In 1994, Tokars was sentenced to life without parole after being convicted on federal racketeering charges.

Rower was later convicted and got life without parole, and after a mistrial, Lawrence pleaded guilty to his role in the killing and served 12 years for testifying against Rower and Tokars.

In more recent years, Tokars had been placed in witness-protection inside the federal prison system and had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

R. Robin McDonald, who wrote the story of Tokars’ death for Law.com, covered his murder trial for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and wrote a book about the case, “Secrets Never Lie,” that was published in 1998.

In her story Wednesday, McDonald said Sara Tokars’ sisters issued a statement saying Fred Tokars “should have died in the electric chair 28 years ago.”

While in prison, Tokars helped federal authorities solve six murders, according to his attorney.

The Tokars sons were raised by Sara Tokars’ family in Florida. Last month, Michael Tokars, an aspiring writer who had gone through health and other issues, died of a pulmonary embolism at the age of 31. He was four years old when his mother was killed.

 

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Cobb DA appointed to prosecute Brunswick murder case

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Cobb District Attorney Joyette Holmes has accepted an appointment by Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr to take over the prosecution of a father and son charged with the murder of a Brunswick man in February.

Cobb District Attorney Joyette Holmes

The shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery, a black man jogging in a neighborhood near Brunswick, has galvanized nationwide attention since video of the incident was made public.

In a release issued by the DA’s office Monday, Holmes said that “the call to serve will not be taken lightly.”

Last week the Georgia Bureau of Investigation charged Gregory McMichael and his son, Travis McMichael with aggravated assault and murder.

The GBI, headed by former Cobb DA Vic Reynolds, took over the investigation after the Glynn County prosecutor recused herself because Gregory McMichael worked as an investigator in that office.

“Our office will immediately gather all materials related to the investigation thus far and continue to seek additional information to move this case forward,” Holmes said in a statement issued by her office. “We appreciate the confidence that Attorney General Carr has in our office’s ability to bring to light the justice that this case deserves.”

The release said her office has been given investigative files by the GBI, as well as “all facts and circumstances” stemming from the Feb. 23 shooting. All of that information “will be reviewed and all appropriate charges under Georgia law will be presented to a Glynn County Grand Jury for indictment,” the Cobb DA’s office statement said.

According to the video of the incident, Arbery, 25, was jogging in a neighborhood in Satilla Shores, outside of Brunswick, when two white men confronted and blocked him on the street. The video—taken by another man, a neighbor of the McMichaels who was trailing Arbery in a vehicle—then shows Arbery being shot.

No charges were brought by local law enforcement and no arrests were made, even after the video surfaced in late April. The GBI was asked to get involved last week, and on Thursday the McMichaels were arrested.

A Glynn County commissioner is alleging that Glynn DA Jackie Johnson stopped police from arresting the McMichaels, but the prosecutor denies those claims.

Holmes, a former Cobb Chief Magistrate judge, was appointed Cobb District Attorney by Gov. Brian Kemp in July 2019, after Reynolds resigned to become GBI director.

 

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Cobb declares judicial emergency; trials suspended 30 days

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Cobb Superior Court, Cobb judicial emergency

A judicial emergency was declared to suspend jury trials in Cobb for 30 days, starting Friday, by Reuben Green, Chief Judge of the Cobb Superior Court, in response to the Coronavirus outbreak.

His order, which was handed down late Friday afternoon, applies to all jury trials in Superior Court and Cobb State Court.

That means jurors called for jury duty do not have to appear and that “only parties, attorneys and necessary witnesses should appear for hearings that are going forward.”

Court and legal proceedings deemed to be essential will be going on, and they are detailed in his order (You can read it here).

Jury weeks for the rest of March and all of April have been cancelled.

Green wrote in his order that while “the court will remain open for the public, they are encouraged to stay home.”

Anyone making a court appearance is asked to leave behind “non-essential people” to that proceeding, including family members, children “and, especially the elderly.”

Green also wrote that inmates at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center summoned to appear in court “will not be transported unless specifically requested by the Judge’s chambers, District Attorney, or Defense Attorney.”

Green wrote that anyone who doesn’t feel well should not come to court, and that parties involved in any case should contact the appropriate judge’s office to get an excused absence.

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Cobb assistant DA to run for open Superior Court judge post

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East Cobb resident Jason Marbutt, a prosecutor in the Cobb District Attorney’s office, said Tuesday he is running for a vacant seat on the Cobb Superior Court.Jason Marbutt, Cobb senior assistant DA

Marbutt, who previously announced his candidacy for Cobb State Court, said in a release issued late Tuesday afternoon that he would campaign instead for the position that has been held by Stephen Schuster since 2005.

Schuster announced his retirement from the bench earlier this week.

“As a career prosecutor and Chairman of the Cobb Elder Abuse Task Force, I believe my experience in protecting our most vulnerable citizens, our mothers and fathers, and our grandmothers and grandfathers, is best suited for the Superior Court bench,” Marbutt said in a statement.

Superior Court judges preside over violent crimes and other felony cases. Judgeships are non-partisan and elections are held every four years.

Schuster is the second Cobb Superior Court Judge to step down this year, along with Lark Ingram, who is retiring after serving since November 1995.

Cobb has 10 Superior Court judges. Other sitting judges up for re-election this year include Chief Judge Reuben Green and judges Kim Childs, Greg Poole, Mary Staley and Tain Kell.

Qualifying for those and other candidates in Cobb and across Georgia is from March 2-6.

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Cobb rape cases from 1999 solved via advanced genetic testing

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The Cobb District Attorney’s Office said Tuesday it’s been able to close three cold case rape files dating from 1999 using advanced genetic genealogy testing.Lorinzo Novoa Williams, Cobb rape cases solved

But the man identified by Cobb investigators as the suspect died in December, shortly after they took DNA samples from him in Arkansas, where he lived.

Lorinzo Novoa Williams, who was 48, went missing after Cobb investigators, with help from Arkansas law enforcement, executed a search warrant to collect his DNA samples, according to Cobb DA’s office public information officer Kim Isaza.

She said that after they returned home, Cobb investigators were told by their Arkansas counterparts that Williams was later found dead.

Isaza said the rapes took place within a three-mile radius in southeast Cobb between June and October 1999. In each case, the attacks took place during pre-dawn hours, with each woman waking up to find an unknown man standing over her.

She said each victim reported her attack to police, which took a rape kit, and that the DNA profile in all three cases was identical, meaning they were assaulted by the same man.

But the profile didn’t match an offender in the CODIS combined DNA index system at the time, according to Isaza.

Cobb Senior Assistant DA Theresa Schiefer began looking at the cases again in 2018 at the request of a cold case unit, and secured a $10,000 grant from the federal Bureau of Justice Assistance to retest the rape kits with advanced technology, Isaza said.

Early last year, the profile was submitted to a private lab that constructed a genetic tree of the suspect, she said.

From there, the Cobb DA’s office sexual assault investigating unit and its cold case unit discovered the suspect lived in metro Atlanta at the time of the 1999 rapes. He had been arrested on peeping tom, indecent exposure and burglary charges in Cobb and Gwinnett, also during that time.

Isaza said that the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Forensic Biology Section determined that the DNA collected from Williams matched the profile of the 1999 rape kits.

Isaza said Schiefer spoke to each of the rape victims after the match was confirmed.

“I feel very fortunate that we could provide some answers to these women after all this time. We want anyone who has experienced sexual assault to know that we will continue to work their cases in hopes that their turn will come, too,” Schiefer said.

According to his obituary, Williams worked for a construction company in Hampton, Ark., and was married with four children. He and his wife became Jehovah’s Witnesses in Macon in 2003.

 

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Man gets 20 years for choking woman at her East Cobb home

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A man who was convicted of choking the mother of his baby at her East Cobb home last year has been given a 22-year prison sentence, with 20 to serve.Derek Burns, East Cobb woman choked

Derek James Burns, 29, of Carrollton, was sentenced Monday by Cobb Superior Court Judge Adele Grubbs, after a jury convicted him last week of aggravated assault (strangulation), false imprisonment, simple battery and simple assault.

According to the Cobb District Attorney’s Office, Burns, who has been in jail since the April 2018 incident, will get credit for time served.

Prosecutors said at the trial that Burns and the victim were arguing at her home on Bradford Lane, off Barnes Mill Road, on April 19, 2018. According to testimony, Burns put the woman in a chokehold until she lost conscious and control of her bladder.

Prosectors said the woman realized after she regained consciousness that she had been dragged across the floor and placed in a corner, and said that Burns threatened to shoot her if she looked up or raised her head until he was gone, and would “make it look like a suicide.”

Also testifying at the trial was a former girlfriend of Burns, who said he had choked her, also rendering her unconscious, when they were dating.

Grubbs, who said Burns was “vicious and harmful,” also ordered him to serve the final two years of his term on probation.

 

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Murder indictment against East Cobb couple’s accused killer thrown out

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A South Georgia man indicted for killing an East Cobb couple in 2015 has had the dismissal of his murder indictment upheld by the Georgia Supreme Court.Elrey and June Runion, murdered East Cobb couple

By a 7-2 vote, the state’s high court agreed with a lower-court ruling that a Telfair County grand jury that indicted Ronnie Adrian Towns was unlawfully constituted because “some of the grand jurors were not selected randomly.”

The ruling was announced on Monday.

(You can read the entire court ruling here.)

Towns was charged with the Jan. 2015 murders of Elrey “Bud” Runion, 69, and his wife June, 66, of East Cobb, who had traveled to McRae, Ga., to buy a 1966 Ford Mustang Towns had posted for sale on Craigslist.

After their daughters reported them missing, the bodies of the Runions were found in their car in a pond in Telfair County a few days later. Authorities in that southeast Georgia county said the Runions had both been shot in the head.

Prosecutors alleged that Towns tried to lure the victims with the prospect of buying the car, but intended to rob them.

Towns, who was 28 at the time of the Runions’ deaths, turned himself in, and he was indicted for murder by a grand jury.

According to the Supreme Court ruling, 50 prospective grand jurors were summoned to appear on March 16, 2015, but fewer than 16 showed up on time. The presiding judge ordered some of those who hadn’t appeared to be located by the Telfair sheriff, and asked the court clerk to identify four possible candidates for the grand jury from a list of prospective petit jurors who could show up quickly.

Two of those four reported, and others summoned for the grand jury later also reported, and a grand jury was empaneled on March 16.

That grand jury, with the two originally on the petit juror list, returned a murder indictment against Towns the same day.

Towns filed a motion to dismiss the indictment, alleging the two on the petit juror list were not chosen at random. Towns’ attorney said the clerk telephoned those four individuals, whom she knew personally. In a 2017 ruling, the trial court concurred and dismissed the murder indictment.

Prosecutors appealed that ruling to the Supreme Court. The high court majority concluded that while the petit jurors were selected at random from a master jury list, in selecting the two individuals who eventually served on the grand jury, the clerk:

” . . . relied on her personal knowledge of the prospective petit jurors, her own assessment of the extent to which she had the information necessary to contact them, and her estimate of the likelihood that they would be available to report immediately. Those selections were not ‘random’ in any sense of the word.”

The Oconee Circuit District Attorney, which prosecutes cases in Telfair and six other South Georgia counties, is seeking the death penalty against Towns.

The Runions, who lived in the Wendwood subdivision off Holly Springs Road, were married for 38 years. According to their obituary, in 1991 the Runions founded Forever Greatful Ministries, which helps families in need in the Marietta area. He was retired from AT & T and she was a preschool teacher at Johnson Ferry Christian Academy.

They were longtime members of Mt. Paran Church of God North on Allgood Road.

 

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Former business partner of murdered East Cobb man indicted

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A Woodstock man has been indicted for the 2014 murder of an East Cobb man who was his former business partner and roommate.

Jerry Moore, murdered East Cobb man
Jerry Moore

Ross Allyson Byrne, 56, was arrested Aug. 30, 2018 for the killing of Jerry Moore, who lived in a neighborhood off Holly Springs Road.

That was just a few days after Johnathan Wheeler of Stockbridge was sentenced to two consecutive life terms without parole for the murder of Moore.

Byrne was indicted by a Cobb Superior Court grand jury on Oct. 3 on eight felony counts, including malice murder, felony murder, conspiracy to commit a felony and violation of rackeetering laws.

Another count alleges that in March of this year, Byrne asked an individual identified as “J.G.” to have Wheeler killed in exchange for money.

The indictment states that Byrne conspired with Wheeler to commit the murder of Moore, who was found stabbed to death multiple times with a knife in his home at 2808 Gracewood Drive on Jan. 25, 2014.

Byrne had been the owner of Best Dang Bakery Around in Woodstock, and Moore had been an investor, according to testimony presented at Wheeler’s trial.

Byrne lived at Moore’s Gracewood Drive home for seven years, according to the indictment, and each man had a 50 percent ownership stake in the bakery, of around $35,000 each.

By Jan. 2014, Moore wanted out of the business partnership, concerned about Byrne’s spending habits, according to the indictment, which stated that Byrne had moved of the East Cobb home by then.

The indictment alleges that Byrne and Wheeler, a former bakery employee who had served 10 years in prison in Ohio for armed robbery and other offenses, conspired to steal from Moore. The plot, according to the indictment, was to have Wheeler come to Moore’s home and commit assault, burglary and theft.

After Moore was found dead, the indictment states, the plot involved “tampering with evidence and false statements.”

Johnathan Allen Wheeler, East Cobb murder
Johnathan Wheeler

The indictment alleges that Byrne let Wheeler come to his home and shower after the killing, and that Byrne offered Wheeler a clean change of clothes.

According to the indictment, Wheeler confessed to the murder to his cousin, Cynthia Wheeler. She testified at Wheeler’s trial last year that they went back to Moore’s home to stage a crime scene and steal items.

The indictment said Byrne later stole Moore’s partnership interest, helped Cynthia and Johnathan Wheeler pay bills and paid for a trip Byrne and Wheeler took to the Florida Keys and for vehicles for Wheeler.

Byrne was interviewed by police two days after the murder and denied any role, according to the indictment. Wheeler was charged with homicide on Aug. 16, 2014.

In 2016, Cynthia Wheeler was sentenced for concealing a death, burglary and tampering with evidence, and agreed to testify against her cousin.

According to the Georgia Department of Corrections, Johnathan Wheeler is incarcerated at the Smith State Prison in south Georgia.

 

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Cobb Superior Court judges to get 4-percent county pay raise

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Tom Charron, Cobb Superior Court Administratpr
Tom Charron

Cobb Superior Court judges will be getting the same four-percent merit pay increase as county employees in the new fiscal year 2020 budget that began on Monday.

The Cobb Board of Commissioners voted Tuesday to approve the raises, despite objections from two commissioners.

Each of the 10 Superior Court judges, the chief judge and new Cobb District Attorney Joyette Holmes will receive the raises, which will increase their county salary supplement by $8,323 a year.

Superior Court judges and the DA serve in elected positions and are state constitutional officers, with most of their salaries paid by the state.

A portion of their compensation comes from county supplements, and funding for the raises is provided in the FY 2020 budget.

Commissioners Bob Ott of East Cobb and Keli Gambrill voted against the measure, which passed 3-2 and goes into effect immediately.

The state portion of the four-percent increase is $62,254 per individual, and the request is based on judges’ full salaries.

Ott said he supports pay raises for the county portion of the judges’ salaries, but not on their full salary.

“To me, that’s a state function,” Ott said.

East Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell said she supported the raises, since the county previously has boosted local compensation for the Cobb sheriff, also an elected state constitutional officer, to match other Cobb law enforcement increases.

The state last raised Superior Court and other state judicial salaries in 2015. When HB 279 was enacted, median Superior Court salaries went from around $186,000 a year (with $120,000 being paid by the state) to nearly $200,000 annually.

Superior Court judges handle major felony cases, including violent crimes, drug-trafficking and serious white-collar offenses.

State Court judges preside over misdemeanor and small-claims cases, including DUI, traffic citations and minor civil disputes.

Their salaries are set by and fully paid for by county governments, and in Cobb, State Court judges have a median salary of around $171,000.

They were included in the four-percent merit increase that went to qualified county employees.

Cobb Superior Court Administrator Tom Charron, who made the request at Tuesday’s commissioners meeting, said that judges “in courts of lesser jurisdiction” could conceivably earn more than their Superior Court counterparts without the merit raises.

He said Superior Court judges did not get salary increases that came with other state employee raises this year.

In 2014 the Georgia legislature passed a law that allowed Cobb Superior Court judges to get raises at the local level without having to go to state lawmakers every year.

Ott said the issue is no different than with what the county faces with Georgia DOT over funding obligations for maintenance and repair.

He cited as an example Roswell Road, also known as Georgia Highway 120. “They will come and cut the median once every 60 days, but they don’t care what it looks like in between,” Ott said. “Their answer to us is, ‘If you want it to look better, you’re going to have to cut it.’ That’s not our job.

“Yes, Superior Court judges should get a raise, but it should be the state should taking the responsibility for a state constitutional officer. They’re passing down to the citizens of Cobb to have to cover the cost because they’re not willing to give the raise.

“The more the county takes on state responsibilities, the less [the state] is going to be responsible for. . . At some point in time it’s got to stop.”

Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce said judges shouldn’t caught in the crossfire of haggling over how their salary increases will be paid for. He did say he will take the issue to the Cobb legislative delegation before next year’s session.

“Cobb is a family and judges are part of the family,” Boyce said. “They carry a significant load. We have the resources to do this and we shouldn’t hold the judges back.”

 

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Fugitive Cobb ex-attorney wanted for murder captured in Tenn.

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A disbarred attorney who pleaded guilty earlier this year to defrauding elderly and other clients in Cobb County and who was a fugitive wanted for his mother’s murder was captured over the weekend in Tennessee.

Richard Merritt, who was sentenced in January to 30 years, with 15 to serve, on 34 counts of theft and elder abuse, also is facing murder charges in DeKalb County.

Merritt’s mother was found stabbed and beaten to death on Feb. 2, the day after Merritt was to have turned himself in to begin serving his Cobb prison sentences, according to the U.S. Marshal’s Office in Nashville.

That’s where Merritt was spotted and arrested, while shopping at a thrift store, according to published reports. Photographs and footage of his apprehension showed he had grown his hair and beard long.

On Monday he was booked into the Davidson County Jail in Nashville, charged with a felony count of being a fugitive from justice. His bond is $250,000.

The manhunt for Merritt began after police found his mother’s body at her Stone Mountain home. Shirley Merritt’s car was missing and his was parked at the home, according to DeKalb Police.

Police also said at the time that in addition to his failure to surrender himself, Merritt, 44, removed an ankle monitor as part of his sentencing.

Merritt, whose law practice was in Smyrna, was indicted in 2018 on 34 counts of theft by taking, forgery and elder exploitation. According to the indictment, starting in 2015, he settled clients’ cases for such things as accidents and civil disputes without telling them by forging their signatures, then pocketing the settlement checks.

Those ranged between $1,500 and $75,000, according to the indictment. Some of those clients were elderly, prompting the charges of elder exploitation.

He pleaded guilty to all 34 counts, according to Cobb Superior Court Clerk’s records, and was sentenced to serve most of them 10-15 years concurrently. At the sentencing Merritt was ordered to serve 15 years in prison, with the rest on probation if he turned himself in at the Cobb jail on Feb. 1.

Merritt also was ordered to pay than $454,000 in restitution.

On Tuesday, Cobb District Attorney Joyette Holmes said “that it is a relief to know he is back in custody and I am confident that justice will ultimately prevail.”

She also said that “at some point he will be returned to Cobb for a hearing to revoke his probation.”

 

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East Cobb ‘grandfather figure’ sentenced for sexual abuse

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An East Cobb man received a 20-year sentence after being convicted last week of sexually abusing a girl over several years.East Cobb grandfather sentenced

The Cobb District Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday that Gary Charles Hufstetler Sr., now 70, was found guilty by a Cobb Superior Court jury and was sentenced by Judge Reuben Green, with eight years to serve.

According to testimony introduced at the trial, Hufstetler began abusing the girl—who was not related but regarded him as what prosecutors described as a “grandfather figure”—when she was six years old, and it continued until she was 11.

According to prosecutors, Hufstetler knew the girl through his long-time live-in girlfriend, and the abuse progressed over time, beginning with such activities as watching Popeye cartoons together. The victim didn’t tell anyone until “a triggering event” prompted her to tell a therapist and police, according to a statement from the Cobb DA’s office.

Spokeswoman Kim Isaza said in the statement that Hufstetler had been investigated previously for allegations involving other children in his family, but no charges were filed.

Hufstetler’s home address is listed on Smithwood Drive, off Allgood Road near East Piedmont Road, according to Cobb court records, which also show that Hufstetler previously lived on Chestatee Drive in East Cobb and in Acworth.

According to Cobb assistant DA Meredith Florio, “this predator took care in grooming and selecting a child that he thought would never tell. However, this young woman, now 17 years old, showed incredible strength by facing her fears and this defendant in describing to the jury the abuse she suffered at such a young age.”

Hufstetler was indicted in Aug. 2017, according to Cobb Superior Court Clerk’s records. According to the Cobb Sheriff’s Office, he was taken into custody at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center on Friday, the day he was convicted.

 

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Former Wheeler student indicted for battery against teacher

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Wheeler STEM program

A former Wheeler High School student charged with striking a teacher at the school in February has been indicted.

Last Friday, a Cobb Superior Court grand jury handed down an indictment of battery upon school personnel, a felony, against Dante Jaquawn Walker, 19, according to the Cobb District Attorney’s Office.

In the indictment, Walker is alleged to have struck a teacher in the face on Feb. 4. He was arrested by Cobb County School District Police and later was released on a bond of $8,470, according to Cobb Sheriff’s Office records.

Court records indicate that Walker was rearrested on July 4 on a felony marijuana charge and a misdemeanor charge of willful obstruction of a police officer. As a result, his bond was revoked on July 17 for 90 days. He remains in the Cobb County Adult Detention Center, according to the Cobb Sheriff’s Office.

Walker’s home address in jail and court records is listed at Penny Lane, which is an apartment community off Wylie Road.

The court records further indicate that Walker must complete a drug and alcohol evaluation and enroll in a program to receive a General Education Diploma, among other pretrial conditions imposed in the July 17 order by Judge Kellie Hill.

WSB-TV reported in March that the father of another Wheeler student alleged the teacher struck his son in a gym class, and that Walker hit the teacher in response.

Roy Clayton, the teacher identified in the indictment as Walker’s victim, was not listed on the Wheeler faculty roster for the school year that just began.

East Cobb News contacted the Cobb school district seeking information on whether the teacher had been investigated, placed on leave or disciplined in connection with the Feb. 4 incident.

A district spokeswoman would say only that “Mr. Clayton is still employed by the Cobb County School District. The student referenced is not enrolled in a Cobb County school.”

 

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East Cobb assisted living worker sentenced for elder neglect

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An East Cobb assisted living worker who last month was found not guilty of murder in the death of a resident there has been sentenced to 10 years for elder neglect.Landon Terrell, East Cobb assisted living worker sentenced

Landon Terrel, a caregiver at the Sunrise at East Cobb facility on Johnson Ferry Road, was found guilty of that charge and was sentenced Friday by Cobb Superior Court Judge Lark Ingram.

He was ordered to serve five years in prison and the rest on probation, according to a statement issued by the Cobb District Attorney’s Office.

Terrel could have been facing a maximum of 20 years.

On July 17, Terrel was found not guilty of murder and two counts of elder abuse in the death of Adam Bennett, 91, a Sunrise resident who died after being found injured in his room in August 2017.

Jurors could not reach a unanimous verdict against Terrel for murder based on neglect and a mistrial was declared.

According to the DA’s office, Terrel was the only caregiver on the overnight shift at Sunrise of Aug. 15, 2017 when Bennett later complained to a daytime staffer that he had been punched by Terrel. According to testimony at the trial, Bennett motioned to his face, chest and groin and became unresponsive.

He was rushed to WellStar Kennestone Hospital but never regained consciousness and died three days later. The Cobb Medical Examiner’s office ruled the death was caused by blunt force trauma due to an assault.

During the trial, Terrel admitted he used “bad judgment” by ignoring Bennett’s cries that he was in pain. He denied that he struck Bennett, and said earlier in the evening he assisted the elderly man after he fell out of his bed and hit his chest on the bed.

The DA’s office said that two of Terrel’s coworkers testified during the sentencing hearing that other Sunrise residents had complained about him. Ingram also heard that Terrel had been fired from other caregiving jobs for neglecting patients.

“Adam Bennett died from painful injuries. He suffered, and the person responsible for easing that suffering did nothing,” Cobb senior assistant district attorney Jason Marbutt said before the sentencing.

Bennett’s son Doug Bennett said in a victim-impact statement that “my dad was a strong guy who had a strong heart. This man knows what he did. He took my father away.”

Terrel, now 35, of Powder Springs, has been in the Cobb County Adult Detention Center since his arrest on Aug. 16, 2017. He will be credited for time served as he completes his sentence.

Ingram also ordered that Terrel will not be allowed to care for elderly patients during probation.

 

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East Cobb man indicted for drug-related pharmacy robberies

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An East Cobb man who is charged with the robbery and attempted robbery of three pharmacies, including two in East Cobb in early April, has been indicted on those charges.

According to the Cobb District Attorney’s Office, Matthew Colozzi, 40, of a Sandstone Place address, was indicted by a Cobb Superior Court grand jury on June 27 of seven counts relating to the robbery spree:

  • robbery by intimidation
  • criminal attempt to commit a felony
  • aggravated assault
  • possession of a knife during the commission of a robbery
  • possession of a controlled substance
  • obstruction of police officers

He remains without bond at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center, where he was taken into custody on April 14, according to Cobb Sheriff’s Office records.

That’s the date of the last of three robberies Cobb Police say Colozzi committed or tried to commit in a one-week span, as he demanded oxycontin and other prescription drugs.

According to the indictment, Colozzi entered the CVS on Cobb Parkway in the City of Kennesaw on April 7, brandished a knife at a store employee and demanded OxyContin, although he left without any drugs.

Four days later, on April 11, he is accused of going to a CVS in the 3900 block of Shallowford Road, near Lassiter Road, handing a note to an employee and saying he had a gun or knife and demanding oxycodone and Alprazolam. Police said Colozzi left with those substances and some Xanax.

Colozzi was arrested on April 14 at the Walgreens at 2580 Sandy Plains Road after he made a similar demand to an employee there. When police arrived at the scene, Colozzi tried to get away, but was tased, and officers found him in possession of narcotics.

Also indicted last week is Mazda Massieh Davoudi, 19, of a Trickum Road address, on two counts of aggravated assault, and one count each of hit and run and criminal trespass.

According to the indictment, Davoudi was driving a Honda Accord on Feb. 18 on Bentwood Drive, near Old Canton Road, when he intentionally hit and injured Ryan Smith, a pedestrian, and did not stop after the collision.

Davoudi was arrested on April 9 and has been held without bond since then at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center, according to Cobb Sheriff’s Office records.

 

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East Cobb assisted living worker convicted of neglect, but not murder

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UPDATE: Terrel has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for the neglect conviction.

A worker at an East Cobb assisted living facility is facing up to 20 years in prison after being convicted this week for elder abuse in the death of a 91-year-old resident there in 2017.Landon Terrell, East Cobb assisted living worker

But Landon Terrel, 35, of Powder Springs, was found not guilty of murder and two counts of elder abuse in the death of Adam Bennett at the Sunrise at East Cobb facility, according to the Cobb District Attorney’s office.

A mistrial was declared in the murder case after a Cobb Superior Court jury failed on Wednesday to reach a unanimous verdict, after three days of deliberations.

“Too often we think of justice as a result, instead of a process,” Cobb senior assistant district attorney Jason Marbutt said in a statement. “This was a tough case, with tough facts.  We respect the verdict delivered by the jury.”

Terrel was arrested and charged with elder abuse, neglect and murder after Bennett was found injured in his room at Sunrise at East Cobb (1551 Johnson Ferry Road), on Aug. 15, 2017.

Terrel had been an overnight caregiver at Sunrise on that date. Around 7:30 a.m., Bennett was found with facial bruising, fractured ribs and a punctured lung. He was rushed to WellStar Kennestone Hospital, but never regained consciousness and died three days later.

The Cobb Medical Examiner’s office ruled the death was caused by blunt force trauma due to an assault.

According to a release from the Cobb DA’s office, Bennett had apparently told another caregiver that Terrel had punched him. That claim was introduced during the trial last week. Terrel denied that, telling police he caught Bennett earlier that evening after he fell out of bed, and said that the elderly man’s chest struck the bed.

Terrel said he checked on Bennett the remainder of the night and admitted to having “poor judgment” by ignoring Bennett’s complaints about being in pain.

Terrel’s sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 19 before Cobb Superior Court Judge Lark Ingram.

 

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East Cobb stockbroker sentenced for defrauding clients of $1.4M

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A former stockbroker and investment adviser who touted his East Cobb community ties to clients has been sentenced to serve five years in prison for defrauding them of $1.4 million.Roswell Road kidnapping, East Cobb stockbroker sentenced

Sean Kelly, 50, pleaded guilty in January to federal charges of wire fraud and securities fraud. According to his sentence, which was announced Friday by Byung J. Pak, U.S. Attorney in Atlanta, Kelly also will be ordered to pay back the $1.4 million in restitution and will be on three years of supervised release when he leaves prison.

Kelly operated several businesses with the “Lions Share” name in office space on Roswell Road that offered brokerage, investment, tax and insurance services.

In a civil complaint filed by by the Securities and Exchange Commission last October, Kelly was the sole proprietor of Lion’s Share & Associates, Inc., Lion’s Share Tax Services, LLC, and Lion’s Share Financial of East Cobb, Inc.

Kelly also was associated with Capital Financial Services in a Marietta branch office from 2012-17, and with Marietta-based Center Street Securities in 2017-18.

After the SEC filing, the Federal Bureau of Investigation obtained a warrant and arrested Kelly.

Federal prosecutors allege that from January 2014 to October 2018, Kelly fraudulently accrued more than $1 million from 12 investors.

Instead of investing those funds as they directed, Kelly deposited investor’s checks in bank accounts he controlled, and spent the money on himself: For mortgage payments, Super Bowl tickets, vacations, and major cash withdrawals.

Prosecutors said those investors included elderly people, veterans and the disabled, and the SEC filing alleged that Kelly “treats Lion’s Share as his personal piggy bank.”

On a website aimed at Baby Boom-age investors, Kelly’s page asserted that his company and “the Kelly family support several community initiatives” that included being a coach for East Side Baseball and a past member of the parish council at Holy Family Catholic Church.

“Kelly never intended to fulfill his fiduciary responsibility to his clients, which included elderly citizens and veterans,” Pak said in a statement.

Said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta: The FBI is hopeful that Kelly’s sentence will send a strong message to anyone who would try to take advantage of unsuspecting clients for their own personal greed.”

 

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New Cobb District Attorney appointed by Gov. Kemp

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Current Cobb Chief Magistrate Judge Joyette Holmes has been appointed by Gov. Brian Kemp as the new Cobb District Attorney.Joyette Holmes, Cobb District Attorney

She succeeds Vic Reynolds, now the director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and will serve out the remainder of his term, which ends in December 2020.

Holmes, a Republican, is the first woman and the first African-American to serve as Cobb DA. She is a former Assistant District Attorney in Cobb County, and also served in the Cobb Solicitor’s Office.

She has been the Chief Magistrate for the last four years and also has been in private law practice in Marietta.

A native of Valdosta, Holmes earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Georgia and a law degree from the University of Baltimore.

At a press conference, Kemp said that Holmes “is able and ready to lead” the Cobb DA’s office. “She is certainly one of our best and brightest in Georgia.”

John Melvin, who has been the acting Cobb DA since Reynolds’ departure, is expected to join him soon at the GBI.

The DA’s office said this afternoon that the transition may take another couple of weeks because Holmes’ swearing-in has not been scheduled.

 

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East Cobb man indicted for murder of home contractor

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Jake Horne, East Cobb shooting victim, East Cobb man indicted murder

An East Cobb man charged in March with shooting two home contractors—one of them fatally—was indicted Thursday for murder and aggravated assault.

A Cobb Superior Court grand jury returned indictments of malice murder, felony murder, two counts of aggravated assault and two counts of possessing a firearm while committing a felony against Larry Epstein, according to the Cobb District Attorney’s Office.

Epstein, 69, has been held without bond at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center since his March 6 arrest for the shootings. Jake Horne, 21, of Kennesaw (in photo) died from gunshot wounds sustained at the Epstein’s Wellington Lane home, according to Cobb Police.

Gordon Montcalm, 37, of Buchanan, Ga., also was shot at the home, police said, and he has been undergoing what family members have said is a long recovery.

Police said Horne and Montcalm were finishing up their workday on a contracting project at Epstein’s home, located in a quiet neighborhood off Johnson Ferry Road, when gunfire erupted.

Neighbors reported an active shooter situation to police, who urged them to go inside, as SWAT and other emergency units arrived and blocked off the street.

About a half-hour after the heavy law enforcement presence came to the scene, Epstein surrendered peacefully, according to police.

Horne died later that day after being rushed to WellStar Kennestone Hospital, after family members said he was taken off life support.

Epstein’s wife filed for divorce after separating from her husband of 48 years the day after the shootings, according to Cobb court documents.

Related stories

 

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Convicted Windy Hill Road restaurant killers receive life sentences

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Windy Hill Road restaurant killers

Two men convicted earlier this month of killing a man outside a Windy Hill Road restaurant and wounding his wife in 2016 were handed life sentences on Thursday.

The sentences issued by Cobb Superior Court Judge Ann Harris to Demarious Kevauh Greene, 23 (left), and Dylan Marquis Ledbetter, 25 (right).

On May 16, they were found guilty of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, armed robbery, and firearms-possession charges stemming from a robbery and shootings of a Kennesaw couple outside the Pappadeaux restaurant Oct. 7, 2016.

Ledbetter, who also was found guilty of aggravated assault on a police officer, was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, as well as another consecutive life sentence with a minimum of 10 years to serve. Greene got life with the possibility of parole for murder and three consecutive life sentences for the other charges.

Anthony Welch and his wife Cynthia were leaving the restaurant after having their birthday dinner when they were robbed by two men, police said.

According to trial testimony, the men took a necklace from Cynthia Welch (later revealed to be costume jewelry valued at only $5) after shooting both victims with a .38-caliber weapon.

Anthony Welch died from his wounds and Cynthia Welch survived.

The suspects were stopped on Oct. 15 at a gas station on Delk Road for a traffic violation. Greene and Ledbetter, who are both from Broward County, Fla., had been connected to another robbery in Woodstock for which they have received life sentences.

Ledbetter also is facing murder charges in Broward for shooting a man in the head. That victim, as well as the Woodstock victim, testified in the trial for the Pappadeaux shootings.

 

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Two men convicted in 2016 fatal shooting at Windy Hill Road restaurant

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Windy Hill Road restaurant shooting
Anthony and Cynthia Welch were shot after celebrating her birthday at dinner at Pappadeaux. (Photo: Cobb District Attorney’s office)

A Cobb Superior Court jury has convicted two men from Florida for killing a man and shooting his wife in 2016 in the parking lot of a Windy Hill Road restaurant.

The Cobb District Attorney’s office said Demarious Kevauh Greene, now 23, and Dylan Marquis Ledbetter, now 25, were found guilty of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, armed robbery, and firearms-possession charges. Ledbetter was also found guilty of aggravated assault on a police officer.

Their victims are Anthony and Cynthia Welch, a Kennesaw couple leaving the Pappadeaux restaurant on Oct. 7, 2016, after celebrating her birthday. Prosecutors said they were attacked as they reached their car, and when Anthony Welch stepped in front of his wife to shield her from the men, he was shot in the heart with a .380-caliber bullet.

Cynthia Welch also was shot, in the arm and the chest, and one of the men took a necklace from her neck before they fled the scene by car, according to the DA’s office.

Anthony Welch died a short time later, and Cynthia Welch survived. They were married nearly 25 years.

During the trial, prosecutors said police linked the Welch shootings with a robbery in the parking lot at a store in Woodstock four days later. On Oct. 15, police spotted a vehicle from the Woodstock incident parked at a Red Roof motel near the Pappadeaux restaurant, and followed it as it left the parking lot.

During a traffic stop, prosecutors said the vehicle pulled into a gas station, trying to get away, and hit a Cobb Police officer, then another car. According to police, Greene and Ledbetter jumped out of the car, with Ledbetter being shot three times by a plainclothes officer.

The DA’s office said a man still in the car surrendered to police, who executed a search warrant for items in the vehicle and discovered a .380 handgun that GBI ballistics experts later matched to the bullets in the Welch shootings.

Prosecutors said other evidence corrobrated the presence of Greene and Ledbetter at the crime scenes.

In his closing arguments, Cobb assistant district attorney Jesse Evans said, “this murder was cold-blooded. Senseless. It didn’t have to happen. Cynthia and Anthony Welch did not deserve this.”

Greene and Ledbetter will be sentenced on May 30, and could be facing life in prison without parole. They’ve been convicted in the Woodstock robbery and received life sentences.

 

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