Alyssa Prindle never left ICU after falling out of a moving car on Johnson Ferry Road July 5.
An East Cobb teen charged with the death of another teen who fell out of a moving car over the July 4 holiday has been indicted by a Cobb grand jury.
Abigail Cook, 17, is facing charges of vehicular homicide, having a false identification and underage possession of alcohol.
The indictments were handed Nov. 1, according to online documents filed with the Cobb District Attorney’s Office.
Cook, whose home address is listed as Wood Thrush Way, was charged shortly after Alyssa Prindle, 18, a recent graduate of Pope High School, was seriously injured in the incident and taken to WellStar Kennestone Hospital.
Cobb Police said Prindle was a backseat passenger in an SUV driven by Cook that was heading north on Johnson Ferry Road near Sewell Mill Road around 2 a.m. on July 5.
According to police, Prindle rolled down a window of a silver 2001 Hyundai Santa Fe and began hanging out of the vehicle while it was in motion, yelling and screaming before she fell out.
Prindle, who was to have been a freshman at Georgia Southern University this fall, was in intensive care at Kennestone until she died on July 27.
The charges against Cook, who bonded out of jail shortly after her arrest, were upgraded to include vehicular homicide. She was indicted by the grand jury for violating her class D drivers license hour restrictions.
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Cobb Police Tuesday released surveillance photos of a man they say is an East Cobb motel sexual assault in an attack that took place nearly a month ago.
The man is accused of attacking a victim on Oct. 7 at the Intown Suites located at 2030 Roswell Road, and police are asking for the public’s help in identifying him.
According to police, the victim and suspect were in contact through a mobile phone application.
Police said just a few minutes after that, the suspect arrived at the victim’s location at the motel. The victim was then allegedly overpowered and sexually assaulted, police said.
Police said the suspect is a black male between 26 and 30 years old. He has a medium to dark complexion and is around 5-foot-10 to six feet in height, weighing between 200-230 pounds.
Police said the suspect was wearing the clothing shown in the photo above, and that he had a full beard short in length.
Anyone with information regarding asked to call the Cobb Police Crimes Against Persons unit at 770-499-3945
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Law enforcement agencies in the county are getting out word that a Cobb robbery suspect who was taken to WellStar Kennestone Hospital for medical observation has escaped.
The man has been identified as Jules Jackson, 19, and the photo to the right was also released by Cobb Police and other agencies.
Police said Jackson slipped out of handcuffs and escaped out of a window at the hospital overnight on Friday morning. He was taken to Kennestone as a precaution after swallowing “a potentially dangerous amount” of narcotics before his arrest.
Police said “a large contingent” of officers from Cobb, Marietta and Powder Springs searched the area near the hospital, which was on a temporary lockdown but has since resumed regular operations.
Police also said there were no reported injuries and there is “no immediate cause for concern for the general public.”
Police said that on Thursday, Jackson and David Roberts, 26, were arrested for an armed robbery on Leland Drive, in an apartment complex off Windy Hill Road and near I-75.
Anyone with information about Jackson’s whereabout is asked to call 911 immediately.
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
If you’re in the vicinity of SunTrust Park during early November and see a lot of law enforcement presence, there’s a reason for that. There will be Cobb Police active shooter training going on, and they’re sending out word about what you’ll notice:
Beginning November 1, 2018 the Cobb County Police Department will be conducting large scale training at SunTrust Park. This training will result in a large number of emergency vehicles and personnel in and around the Park. The training will be conducted November 1 and 2, 2018, and it will continue on November 5 through November 9. Passersby and residents may notice an increased police, fire, and emergency medical services presence in the afternoon hours and late into the evening
We are excited about our partnership with the Atlanta Braves and the opportunity to train in a real-world environment to better prepare our officers, firefighters, and emergency medical personnel to more effectively respond to and handle all emergencies in Cobb County.
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Police are sending out word that there’s going to be an East Cobb crime forum Thursday night to address a rash of burglaries affecting citizens of Asian and Indian descent.
The meeting starts at 7 p.m. at the East Cobb Senior Center (3322 Sandy Plains Road).
Here’s more from Lt. Nathan McCreary, head of the Cobb Police Precinct 4 Criminal Investigations Unit:
The forum will focus on the increase in burglaries targeting the Asian and Indian community in East Cobb County. All citizens are invited to attend and encouraged to participate. The presentation will include crime stats and methods for all citizens to use to decrease the potential of becoming a victim.
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
The Cobb District Attorney’s Office said Friday that 23 people have been sentenced to long prison terms for a range of gang-related criminal offenses in the county in 2015 and 2016.
In a release, DA’s office spokeswoman Kim Isaza said that members of Get Money Squared, Wildlyfe and 2200, three criminal street gangs with roots in Cobb, pleaded guilty to drive-by shootings, drug offenses, thefts, car break-ins, assault, street-gang terrorism, criminal trespass, disrupting a public school and firearms violations.
One of the crimes tied to the defendants included a car break-in on Manning Road in the East Cobb area in January 2016.
Another case tied to the crime spree, according to prosecutors, was a drug sale at Windy Hill Road and Circle 75 Parkway in May 2016.
Isaza said Cobb Superior Court Judge Reuben Green handed down sentences ranging from 10 years to 20 years.
She said many of them were given first-offender status, which means that if they complete their custody and probation periods without further incidents, their records will be sealed.
Isaza said the defendants are between 20-27 years old and come from Cobb, Woodstock, Lawrenceville, Atlanta, and Dothan, Ala. The last of the defendants was sentenced last month, she added, and all of them pleaded guilty to racketeering.
Investigating the case were the Cobb Police Anti-Gang Enforcement Unit, Smyrna Police, Marietta Police and Cobb County School District Police.
“Members and associates of these gangs admitted that they sold drugs, broke into dozens of cars to commit thefts and committed acts of violence against people outside the gangs, all to increase their status within the criminal organization and further the gangs’ violent reputations,” said Cobb Senior Assistant District Attorney Jaret Usher, who prosecuted the case, in a statement.
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Early this morning there was an officer-involved shooting at the Walton on the Chattahoochee apartments that resulted in the death of a man Cobb Police say was shooting in the parking lot.
The incident, which took place around 6 a.m., kept Akers Mill Road closed between Cumberland Boulevard and Powers Ferry Road until around 1:30 this afternoon, according to Cobb DOT.
When there’s an officer-involved shooting, the case is turned over to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Late this afternoon the GBI said the man who was killed was Matthew Chambers, age 34, address unspecified.
Police said a man began shooting in the parking lot and they were called to the scene by residents of the apartment complex, which is located at 6640 Akers Mill Road, near the intersection of Powers Ferry.
Police said the man was shooting at vehicles, and that officers found him at a bus stop on Akers Mill, and he pointed his gun at them. Police returned fire, according to the GBI, and the man later identified as Chambers was taken to WellStar Kennestone Hospital. Chambers was pronounced dead there, according to the GBI.
The GBI said no one else, including police, was injured during the incident, which remains under investigation.
After that is complete, the GBI report is forwarded to the Cobb District Attorney’s Office for a review.
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
A woman who went on a crime spree that included the death of a pedestrian near Bells Ferry Road two years ago has been sentenced to prison.
The Cobb District Attorney’s Office said Tuesday that Kristie Renee Nesby, 45, of Fresno, Texas, has been sentenced to 55 years in prison, with 20 to serve and the rest on parole.
She pleaded guilty but mentally ill last week to several felony charges, including killing Luci Turner, 71, who was struck by a car driven by Nesby.
Prosecutors said that incident came at the end what the DA’s office called a “bizarre” string of crimes by Nesby in May 2016.
Nesby, who was to go on trial next week, pleaded guilty but mentally ill to 10 charges, including homicide by vehicle, armed robbery, hijacking a motor vehicle, hit and run, aggravated assault, and possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony.
Around 5 a.m. on May 11, 2016, they said Nesby robbed the owner of a Smyrna cleaning business, then hit another vehicle while speeding on Interstate 575. Prosecutors said Nesby fled the scene, drove the wrong way on an exit ramp and hit another car.
Shortly after 6 a.m., the DA’s office said Nesby was driving on Cobb Parkway near Bells Ferry Road when her car left the road and went on a sidewalk, hitting Turner, who was walking to her job at a nearby Burger King.
Turner, who had been a teacher and a volunteer at MUST Ministries, died of her injuries at WellStar Kennestone Hospital.
After that incident, prosecutors said Nesby hijacked a car driven by a female motorist on Bells Ferry Road and fled toward Interstate 75. She then hijacked a second car and robbed a woman of her cell phone, according to the DA’s office.
Prosecutors said that while driving to Atlanta Nesby called 911 and said she would take a hostage and kill the hostage and herself if police didn’t chase her with blue lights and stop her.
She crashed into several vehicles in Atlanta and tried to hijack another car before being arrested there, according to prosecutors, who said police found her in possession of two handguns.
Prosecutors said Nesby contended that among other things, a fast food employee put something in a soft drink she had ordered that caused her to hallucinate and commit the crimes.
The Cobb DA’s office enlisted the help of mental health experts who evaluated Nesby, and that prosecutors and Nesby’s attorney asked the court to find her mentally ill.
Cobb Superior Court Judge Stephen Schuster accepted Nesby’s plea before issuing the sentence, the Cobb DA’s office said.
Nesby, who has been in the Cobb County jail since her arrest, will receive credit for time served, according to the Cobb DA’s office, which said she also will receive mental health treatment in prison.
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
In the wake of arrests made earlier this week in an attempted child abduction incident off Bells Ferry Road, some social media chatter centered on an individual spotted in some East Cobb neighborhoods, in particular around Holly Springs Road and the vicinity of Pope High School.
Cobb Police Lt. Nathan McCreary, who heads up criminal investigations for Precinct 4, has issued the following response to those citizens’ concerns:
The Cobb County Police Department is aware of the information that has been making rounds on social media platforms regarding a suspicious male in a black Nissan Maxima in the East Cobb area, specifically Holly Springs Road. Investigators have identified and spoken to the involved individual who was cooperative with the investigation. At this time, we have found no evidence of criminal activity associated with the vehicle or its driver.
We want to thank the citizens for their vigilance and encourage everyone to call 911 if they see a suspicious person or vehicles. Do not hesitate to use the emergency line to report any and all suspicious activity.
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
A man found guilty last week of raping a 4-year-old girl at his Delk Road apartment was given two life sentences plus 120 years.
Frederick Wade Sherwood, 48, was convicted Friday by a Cobb Superior Court jury of all charges, including rape, aggravated sodomy and child molestation, according to the Cobb District Attorney’s Office.
The sentence was handed down by Cobb Superior Court Judge Grant Brantley.
Prosecutors said the attacks occurred between 2014 and 2015 in Sherwood’s Delk Road apartment (according to Cobb Sheriff’s Office, his home address is listed as 2650 Delk Road, the Stratford Ridge Apartments).
Prosecutors said the girl was four years old when the assaults began, and she disclosed the abuse to family members in early 2016.
During the trial, according to the DA’s office, she clutched a stuffed animal on the witness stand, saying she initially told no one about the abuse because she feared Sherwood would be mad at her.
A male witness testified during the trial to having been sexually abused by Sherwood years before in another city.
“Any time a small child has to face their abuser in court is particularly difficult,” Cobb assistant district attorney Katie Gropper, who prosecuted the case, said in a statement.
“We are always hopeful that the judicial process is an empowering step towards healing. While we can’t undo the harm the Defendant caused to this child, the jury’s verdict will help bring a sense of justice and closure and ensure that Mr. Sherwood can never harm another child in our community.”
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Lt. Nathan McCreary of the Cobb Police Precinct 4 criminal investigations unit has sent out an alert today about a moving company scam that has claimed an East Cobb resident as a victim:
A citizen hired a moving company to move his entire life’s possession to a different state. The moving company had a website and seemed reputable. Once they arrived at the home and packed the victim’s belongings, the truck left the location and never delivered the property.
The victim then received phone calls stating his property was being held ransom and he needed to pay a large sum of money in order to get his property back. Once this was reported to police, one of our amazing detectives, Det. S. Penirelli, began looking into the case.
She found that the FBI and DOT investigators are currently working similar cases involving a Russian Crime Group. She identified a suspect and found a storage company that had two units rented in the name of the suspect, who was of Russian descent. A search warrant was obtained and a portion of the victim’s property was located in a storage unit.
The same unit was scheduled to go up for auction for non-payment for the storage unit. The storage company was cooperative and allowed the property to remain at their secure location until the victim could arrange to have it removed.
Warrants were obtained for the suspect, but he is likely no longer in the state of Georgia. Detective Penirelli is currently working with the DOT investigators to find potential locations of the remaining property.
Police are also encouraging you to consult with the Better Business Bureau, which has moving scam resources. More also from the U.S. Justice Department about a recent caseinvolving moving scammers.
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
The former roommate and business partner of an East Cobb man murdered in 2014 has been arrested and charged with plotting the killing, and then conspiring to conceal it.
Ross Allyson Byrne, 55, of Woodstock, was booked on murder and other felony charges on Thursday afternoon, according to the Cobb Sheriff’s Office.
He was arrested at The Best Dang Bakery Around on Highway 92 in Woodstock and is being held without bond at the Cobb Adult Detention Center, according to jail information.
Byrne is charged with three counts of felony murder, one count of malice murder, two counts of conspiracy to commit a felony and racketeering, Cobb Sheriff’s Office records show.
According to an indictment issued by a Cobb grand jury on Thursday, Byrne is accused of orchestrating the murder of Jerry Moore, who was found stabbed 32 times at his home of Holly Springs Road on Jan. 25, 2014.
Byrne’s arrest comes nearly two weeks after Johnathan Allen Wheeler was convicted of the murder in Cobb Superior Court and sentenced to two consecutive life terms without parole.
Wheeler worked at the bakery, which was operated by Byrne, and where Moore had been an equal partner, according to Cobb prosecutors. They said the business had been struggling and Moore wanted to end the partnership.
According to the indictment, the “primary purpose” for murdering Moore “was to steal an interest in the business of Best Dang Bakery (or bakery) as well as other property and things of value,” forming the basis of the racketeering charge.
The indictment further states that Byrne and Moore, who opened the bakery in 2008, each held a $35,000 investment; Byrne oversaw day-to-day operations while Moore handled finances.
According to the indictment, the partnership agreement stated that in the case of the death of one of the partners, “the interest of the deceased member shall be transferred to the other surviving Member or Members.”
Jerry Moore was 46 when he was found stabbed to death at his East Cobb home in Jan. 2014. (Photo: Cobb District Attorney’s Office)
By late 2013, the indictment states, the partnership was troubled. There were disputes about how to run the business, and Moore was concerned about Byrne’s spending habits.
The indictment states that by January 2014, Moore was planning to end his business partnership with Byrne and concludes that “it is unlikely” Byrne would have been able to buy out Moore’s share of the bakery.
Moore had gone as far as to draft the terms of dissolving the partnership, according to the indictment.
By then, Wheeler was no longer working at the bakery but still had a “close relationship with Byrne, whom he considered a mentor, the indictment states.
By the first of the year in 2014, according to the indictment, Byrne moved out of the home he shared with Moore on Gracewood Drive, off Holly Springs Road and north of Post Oak Tritt Road.
The indictment alleges that Byrne plotted to have Wheeler—who was released from jail in 2010 after serving 10 years in Cobb and Cherokee for robbery and assault—commit aggravated assault, burglary and theft.
Prosecutors allege that Wheeler and Byrne were in contact before, during and after the murder. Afterward, prosecutors say, Wheeler went to Byrne’s new residence in Woodstock, where he showered and was offered a change of clothes.
Wheeler returned to Moore’s home and with his cousin, Cynthia Wheeler, cleaned up the premises and stole household items, according to prosecutors. She pleaded guilty in 2016 to those charges.
The indictment states that Byrne stole Moore’s partnership interest and as of his arrest still was the owner of the bakery.
Byrne also helped Johnathan Wheeler and Cynthia Wheeler pay bills and purchased a truck for the former that was returned, according to the indictment.
Johnathan Allen Wheeler
The indictment states that Byrne had been interviewed by the police shortly after the murder but denied any involvement and said nothing about Wheeler, who was arrested on Aug. 16, 2014
Byrne and Wheeler continued to stay in touch over the next four years, according to the indictment, both over the phone and in writing, and prosecutors say they have recordings of conversations between the two. The indictment also states that written correspondence from Wheeler was found in Byrne’s possession when authorities obtained a search warrant earlier this week.
The indictment didn’t detail the subject matter of that correspondence, nor did it describe the recorded conversations.
In arguments to the jury at Wheeler’s trial, Cobb assistant district attorney Jesse Evans called the murder “a relentless, sustained, malicious attack by a cold-blooded killer. . . The defendant [Wheeler] pursued, out of greed and out of malice. No human being should ever have this inflicted on them.”
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Marietta Police say a 24-year-old woman was strangled to death at her home in the Merritt Road area early Thursday, and that they have charged a man living there with her murder.
The body of Xi-anna Graham was discovered at her home at 697 Bonnie Dell Drive around 4 a.m. Thursday, according to police, who said there had been an “ongoing domestic dispute.”
The suspect taken into custody is Christopher Gene Scarboro, 27, whom police said resided at the home with Graham and her four children.
He has been charged with felony homicide, aggravated assault and third-degree child cruelty. According to the Cobb Sheriff’s Office, Scarboro is being held without bond.
Marietta Police said the investigation into the murder continues and that anyone with information should contact Det. Michael Selleck at 770-794-5372.
Police said anyone who’s been abused or knows someone who has should seek help immediately. Resources include contacting 1-800-33-HAVEN, as well as the National Domestic Violence Hotline. It’s available 24/7/365 in English and Spanish via website chat, phone call or text at 800-799-7233.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
According to Cobb District Attorney’s office information, Spencer Wayne Herron, 48, was indicted in the past week on five counts of sexual assault of a student.
Herron, who had been a video teacher at Kell for 16 years, was named the school’s teacher of the year two years ago.
Arrest warrants indicate Herron has been accused of having sex multiple times with a student on campus from early 2016 through the 2017-18 school year.
Herron was taken to the Cobb County Adult Detention Center on June 1, and remains there on a $50,000 bond, according to Cobb Sheriff’s Office records.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Marietta Police said today they’ve made four arrests for human trafficking activity they say was taking place at a motel in the Delk Road area.
Police said they got a 911 call early Monday morning from a 15-year-old girl who said she was forced to have sex with multiple men in a room at the Days Inn (2191 Northwest Parkway). The girl said she was told she would be killed if she tried to leave, according to police.
Police said Marietta detectives rescued the girl and took out search warrants for two rooms at the Days Inn, arresting three suspects there and another at a nearby motel.
Marietta Police say the following individuals have been charged and were taken into custody at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center Monday afternoon:
Kamari Bolden, 22, of Atlanta, trafficking;
Laura Waugh, 17, of Morrow, trafficking and giving a false name and date of birth;
Kenneth Thomas, 22, of Fairburn, keeping a place of prostitution and pimping;
Douglas White, 26, of Dallas, trafficking and pimping.
Bolden, Thomas and White are being held without bond and Waugh is being held on a $25,000 bond, according to Cobb Sheriff’s Office records.
Police said the investigation is continuing and anyone with information is asked to call Marietta Police Detective Mark Erion at 770-794-5363.
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
A Stockbridge man convicted for an East Cobb murder more than four years ago was sentenced to two consecutive life terms without parole on Monday.
Cobb Superior Court Judge Mary Staley Clark issued the sentence to Johnathan Allan Wheeler Monday afternoon, not long after he was found guilty of malice murder by a jury.
Wheeler, now 35, was on trial last week for the murder of Jerry L. Moore, who was found stabbed 32 times at his home on Gracewood Drive, off Holly Springs Road, on Jan. 25, 2014.
Wheeler also was convicted of felony murder, aggravated assault, armed robbery and first-degree burglary, according to the Cobb District Attorney’s Office.
Cobb prosecutors said during the trial that Wheeler worked at a Woodstock bakery run by Moore’s roommate, Ross Byrne. Moore, who was 46 at the time of his death, was a half-owner in the business but wanted to get out, according to assistant Cobb District Attorney Jesse Evans.
Evans said during the trial that Byrne had been a business mentor to Wheeler and had moved out of Moore’s home a few weeks before the murder. After the stabbings, Evans said, Wheeler went to Byrne’s residence.
Wheeler’s cousin testified during the trial that he confessed to the murder. Cynthia Wheeler agreed to testify against Wheeler after being sentenced in 2016 for helping him clean up the home after the crime and stealing household items there.
The Cobb DA also said that Wheeler confessed to the murders to his brother and stepfather, both of whom testified at the trial.
“This was a relentless, sustained, malicious attack by a cold-blooded killer,” Evans told jurors in his closing statements while showing them pictures at the crime scene, according to the DA’s office. “The defendant pursued, out of greed and out of malice. No human being should ever have this inflicted on them.”
Wheeler served nearly a decade in prison for robbery and assault in Cobb and Cherokee counties, and was released in 2010.
Over the last two years, Wheeler had written frequently from the Cobb County Adult Detention Center to the court in pleas for a speedy trial, according to documents filed with the Cobb Superior Court Clerk’s office.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
The latest Cobb Police Precinct 4 crime statistics reveal some good news about burglaries and car break-ins.
In its monthly PENs notification message for July, Precinct 4 officers said that 32 residential burglaries have been reported since May, down 43 percent from this time a year ago.
Vehicle break-ins are also down a bit, from 107 from May-July 2017 to 101 this summer.
What police are continuing to encourage you to do, as they always do, is keep your vehicles locked at all times.
In recent weeks the department has been issuing social media reminders to lock up and stay safe, whether at home or in your car.
Cobb Police are calling this the #9pmReminder. Each evening at this time, the messages go out on their social media accounts for you to do the following:
Lock all doors (even back doors and porch doors)
Leave exterior lights on (they deter loitering and burglars)
Pull your car in the garage, if possible, and remove your valuables, LOCK, and CLOSE the garage door (just because your car is in a garage, doesn’t mean it is secure).
Bring all items of value indoors (lawn decorations, toys, etc.).
Bring in mail (it has your information on it and is sought by those who want to steal your identity).
Set your alarms before bed (burglars do not like audible alarms).
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
An Atlanta man has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for robbing a Navy sailor after an evening at a Marietta nightclub two years ago, pistol-whipping him and leaving him naked near Bells Ferry Road.
Cortlyn Javon Martin, 26, was convicted by a Cobb jury in June of armed robbery, kidnapping, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during commission of a felony.
On Thursday, he was sentenced by Superior Court Judge Lark Ingram.
Martin was a patron at the Club Rio, near the South Marietta Parkway and Franklin Gateway, on June 18, 2016, when he left the club with the sailor and other men by car, according to the Cobb District Attorney’s office.
The sailor was driving when Martin, sitting in the back seat, began pistol-whipping him, the DA’s office said, adding that Martin robbed the driver after forcing him to withdraw $500 from a bank ATM in Kennesaw.
The DA’s office said Martin then forced the victim to strip naked, and left him near Bells Ferry Road.
Martin, who was arrested two months after the incident, will be credited for the two years he has been in custody, according to the DA’s office.
“This defendant preyed upon an active-duty military member who was visiting Georgia for the first time on military leave,” assistant Cobb district attorney Kaitlin Southmayd said in a statement. “We are thankful for our victim’s service to his country and his willingness to tell his terrifying account to the jury.”
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Alyssa Prindle had recently graduated from Pope High School.
An East Cobb teenage girl who fell out of a moving car on Johnson Ferry Road earlier this month has died, and an arrest warrant has been issued for the driver.
Cobb Police Officer Sarah O’Hara said in a release this morning that Alyssa Prindle, 18, who suffered serious injuries in the incident, died Wednesday at WellStar Kennestone Hospital.
O’Hara said that the Cobb County Magistrate has issued an arrest warrant for Abigail Cook, 17, also of East Cobb, for 1st degree vehicular homicide.
According to police, Cook was driving a silver 2001 Hyundai Santa Fe northbound on Johnson Ferry Road near Sewell Mill Road around 2 a.m. on July 5 when Prindle, a backseat passenger, rolled down a window and began hanging out of the vehicle.
Police said Prindle was yelling and screaming and then fell out of the Hyundai. She was taken to Kennestone and placed in ICU, and O’Hara said this morning that she never left the hospital before dying of her injuries.
Cook was booked in the Cobb County Adult Detention Center and charged with DUI, reckless driving, serious injury by vehicle (a felony), underage possession of alcohol, possession of false identification and a violation of class D drivers license hour restrictions. She later bonded out of jail, according to Cobb Sheriff’s Office records.
A GoFundMe page had been set up by Prindle’s family to pay for medical expenses, but a message posted there Thursday announced that Prindle, a Pope High School graduate, “lost her fight. Her body just couldn’t keep going. There were too many injuries, and the doctors just couldn’t do anything else for her.”
The message continued:
“Please pray for our family as we go through a difficult next few days together.
“Her parents are Todd and Julie, and her 15-yr old brothers are Kyler and Bailey. We would love for you to be praying for them by name, as well as her extended family.”
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
The Cobb Sheriff’s Office said Pruitt has been captured and arrested.
The sheriff’s office and Cobb Police responded to a suspicious person call at a residence at 1631 Wildwood Road, located between Roswell Road and the North Marietta Parkway.
Pruitt was identified by both law enforcement agencies and was taken to the Cobb County Adult Detention Center, where he had been incarcerated since May for a probation violation, the Cobb Sheriff’s Office said.
ORIGINAL REPORT, POSTED 4:24 P.M.:
Cobb Sheriff Neil Warren said a county jail inmate escaped a work detail at Fullers Park today.
He said Christopher Shane Pruitt walked away from a cleanup at Fullers Park on Robinson Road in East Cobb around 11 a.m.
Pruitt is incarcerated for a probation violation after an original charge of theft by taking of a motor vehicle.
Warren said Pruitt is a white male, 47 years old, about 6-foot-4 and 250 pounds.
Pruitt was last seen in a white shirt and pants with a blue stripe on his pants leg. The back of the shirt says “COBB COUNTY PRISONER.”
Warren said he’s not considered an immediate danger to the public, but if you see him do not approach him. Instead, call the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office at 770-499-4639.
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
