After a couple months’ delay, three East Cobb parks will be among 13 in the county that will be getting electronic license plate readers.
The Cobb Board of Commissioners voted 5-0 Tuesday to spend $182,000 for the devices, which are designed to help cut down on crime and improve public safety at the parks.
East Cobb Park, Fullers Park and Terrell Mill Park are on the list for getting the readers, which are being purchased from a private vendor and will monitored by the Cobb Police Department.
The measure was tabled in August at the behest of East Cobb commissioner Bob Ott, who said he had privacy concerns with the proposal.
The revised request includes a provision that only police will receive the data coming from the devices, and that they will employ their existing policies about restricting use of the data.
No other county employees will have access to that information.
South Cobb commissioner Lisa Cupid thanked Ott “for letting us digest” the need to address privacy concerns.
“This was a sensitive issue,” said Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce, who thanked the police and parks and recreation staff for working out a solution.
Cobb will purchase a total of 26 devices from Flock Group, Inc., which has sold cameras to the county for use by other departments. The funding for the park devices is in the 2016 Cobb SPLOST.
The solar-powered readers at the parks will collect data that includes time of arrival and departure as well as license plate and vehicle characteristics.
Two devices will be installed at each of the 13 parks, which Cobb Parks and Recreation Director Jimmy Gisi said were chosen “based on experience and data obtained from the police department records of the number and type of citizen requested dispatch calls.”
The other parks include Noonday Park and Skip Wells Park in Northeast Cobb; Lost Mountain Park, Oregon Park and Fair Oaks Park in West and North Cobb; and Wallace Park, Hurt Road Park, Tramore Park and Wild Horse Creek Park in South Cobb.
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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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An East Cobb man received a 20-year sentence after being convicted last week of sexually abusing a girl over several years.
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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Thanks to Aaron Salkill, a firefighter with the Cobb Fire and Emergency Services Department, for passing along the following information and educational video you can watch below that’s part of a nationwide contest about closing your door before going to bed.
He and his Dalmatian Cinder are taking part in the “Close Before You Doze” video contest, which will award the winner a $25,000 grant for fire safety education programs.
The video contest is in conjunction with UL Firefighter Safety Research, and the videos are designed “to help educate people about the critical impact that closing your bedroom door can have in stopping the spread of a fire and ultimately saving lives.”
The winnings, according to Cobb Fire, would be contributed to the Cobb County Safety Village.
The eight videos with the most votes move on to the next round where a panel of UL representatives will rank the finalists. They will receive a donation in their name to a fire department of their choosing.
The grand prize donation is $25,000, the runner-up and second runner-up will receive $15,000 and $10,000, respectively, and five additional winners will be recognized with a $5,000 donation and honorable mention.
You can click on to the video link here between now and Sept. 15 to cast your vote for Aaron and Cinder and possibly benefit the Cobb Safety Village.
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A note suggesting a bomb threat and that was found on the dashboard of a car parked in front of The Marietta Daily Journal office Wednesday has led to the arrest of an East Cobb man.
Gary S. Studenic, 70, was booked in the Cobb County Adult Detention Center Wednesday afternoon on a misdemeanor charge of reckless conduct, according to the Marietta Police Department.
According to the Cobb Sheriff’s Office, Studenic’s home address is on Bill Murdock Road, and he was arrested at 12:15 p.m.
Police said an unoccupied black Porsche was parked in front of 47 Waddell Street at 10:10 Wednesday morning with a sign on the dashboard that stated in part: “will explode on contact.”
That’s near the Marietta Square, and it’s the address of the MDJ, which evacuated the premises, as did those in other nearby buildings, according to police.
Police said they established a perimeter around the vehicle as they investigated, and asked the Cobb Police Department to dispatch its bomb squad to the scene.
At 10:40 a.m., the registered owner of the car, whom police said is Studenic, walked from a building on the Square to the Porsche, and when he arrived said the note was a joke among friends.
The note said at the top: “NOTICE OF EXPLOSIVE INSTALLATION” and further stated in the text that “it has been modified to explode on contact. A nominal fee of $10,000 will be collected at time explosive charges are removed,” according to the MDJ.
Police said Studenic told them he didn’t realize he had placed the note in public view and in front of a newspaper office.
Police said the man who wrote the note, Richard Calhoun of Marietta, arrived at 11:11 a.m. The Cobb bomb squad inspected the car and found no explosives.
Marietta Police said Studenic went to their headquarters and was interviewed, and was charged with reckless conduct, which carries a bond of $250. Calhoun was not charged.
Studenic is the president of the Pain Relief Clinic, a chiropractic practice on South Marietta Parkway.
The MDJ moved to the Waddell Street building last summer, after selling its 50-year-old facility on Fairground Street to the Cobb County School District.
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After threats of violence or lockdowns at three East Cobb high schools in the last two weeks, Cobb County School District officials are trying to reassure the public that they’re being as proactive as possible in responding to those threats.
All three of those incidents—at Sprayberry, Walton and Wheeler—ended peacefully, and suspects at all three schools, including two students, were taken into custody.
School officials communicated with parents with varying levels of detail.
The first two incidents—both last week, at Sprayberry and Walton—included a code yellow alert and a student arrest, respectively.
On Friday morning, a code red alert was issued at Wheeler, where a student was found with a weapon and was arrested.
“We’re being as proactive as any school district I know,” said John Floresta, chief strategy and accountability officer for Cobb schools. He spoke to East Cobb News Thursday, before Friday’s incident at Wheeler.
According to a school district statement Friday morning, “students made [the] Wheeler administration aware of a rumor of a current student who had made a threat to Wheeler’s campus.”
The school was placed on a Code Red lockdown—the highest stage of alert—while school district police and administrators investigated. A student found with a weapon—which was not specified—was taken into custody.
“Wheeler administration, staff, CCSD police, and District student-safety supports performed well,” the school district statement further stated.
In each of the previous incidents, Floresta said, “we’re batting 100 percent in the way each incident was handled,” from quick actions by school officials to apprehend those posing a threat, to relaying information to the school community.
At Sprayberry, a trespasser was stopped by school officials last Friday and was found to have a gun. He was arrested, and a code yellow alert was issued. That means the outside doors to school buildings were locked while classes and activities continued inside.
A 45-year-old man who lives nearby, Daniel Ryan Caudell, was charged with possession of a weapon and alcohol on a public school ground.
At Walton, alcohol also was a mitigating factor in another incident last week. Ty Holder, a 17-year-old student, was charged with battery for kicking an assistant principal and threatening to shoot up the school when he was found with a water bottle containing alcohol.
He was later released on his own recognizance.
At Wheeler, Rolando Figueroa Moore, 18, was arrested at the school around 9 a.m. Friday by Cobb schools police and then booked into the Cobb jail, according to the Cobb Sheriff’s Office. Jail records indicate Moore has charged weapons possession on school grounds and bus hijacking, both felonies, and a misdemeanor count of carrying a weapon without a valid license.
An East Cobb parent who helped form a Cobb schools safety group last year acknowledged that the district is taking more concerted steps to ensure safety and communicate better, but still thinks its approach is largely reactive.
Rene’ Brinks Dodd, who helped start the Cobb County Schools Safety Coalition before the last school year, said she thought the message from Sprayberry principal Sara Griffin was prompt and detailed.
It said in part that the incident “did not disrupt the school day, at no time were students threatened or in danger.”
At Walton, an initial message to parents referenced “a student-related incident . . . that some of our students may have witnessed” but said only that the “situation has been resolved and the student involved is in the care of medical professionals.”
Principal Catherine Mallanda sent out a longer, more detailed message later the same day, saying that some information couldn’t be revealed for medical and student privacy reasons.
But she did describe the safety features of the Walton classroom building that opened two years ago, and explained a school safety day that took place last week “in which we reviewed all safety procedures with students and had a Code Red Drill. Additionally, our school safety plan has been vetted with the Cobb County School District Police Department.”
Mallanda also told parents about the 65-member Cobb schools police force, which has a combined 1,690 years of service. “We have some of the very best police officers at Walton High School keeping your child safe every day,” she said.
The second Walton message also referenced safety measures the district has begun within the last year, including the Safe Schools Alert, an anonymous tip-reporting service, and AlertPoint, an emergency response notification system that triggers a warning message throughout a school within seconds and identifies where an incident has taken place.
Officer Phil Bradford of the Cobb County School District police, at a safety town hall last fall at Lassiter HS. (ECN file)
Those are featured in a Cobb schools safety resource effort called Cobb Shield, which also contains information about the district police force, emergency management procedures and code red drills (required each semester at each of the district’s 16 high schools).
The Walton incident wasn’t made public for a week, and then only because of news reports, while the Sprayberry and Wheeler cases were made public the day they occurred.
Last month, Dodd addressed the Cobb Board of Education with some of her longstanding concerns, saying the Cobb school district “is taking a reactive approach to student safety and support and there are several ticking bomb-type situations that could result in someone getting hurt, hurting others or another tragic situation.”
Others are taking a “more proactive approach, and this could be done in Cobb County as well.”
Dodd, whose daughter attended Mountain View Elementary School, has advocated for more mental health counseling, and pointed to a special committee appointed by the school superintendent in Cherokee County for “social emotional learning” as an example of an initiative she would like to see tried in Cobb.
“We want change for everyone in the district, not just those students who are going to get the district high test scores and ratings,” she told the school board.
In referencing direct safety initiatives, including Cobb Shield, Floresta said that “I can point you to 1, 15, 20 things that we’re doing. I’d be curious to hear of something that we can do that we’re not doing.”
He said that “we’ve been pretty aggressive in steering the community to what we’re doing.”
Mallanda closed her longer message to the Walton community by saying that:
“Helping students succeed is our first priority, but we can only accomplish this mission if our schools are safe, our students are confident, and our teachers are able to focus on teaching. I am confident we are doing everything possible to keep your student safe.”
After the Wheeler incident, Dodd said she was “pleased to see more transparency in [the Cobb school district] statement than what has been done historically,” she said. “Also, would be curious if the new AlertPoint and SafeSchools Alert system is the reason it seems there are more incidents.
“Meaning, now that the teachers and students have the proper tools, a lot more things are being caught in a more efficient time frame and before something [is] escalated.”
However, the Code Red drill that took place at Walton last Thursday unnerved student Emily Ross, who wrote in an essay for the AJC that “this is warping me. I never feel safe.
“The teachers are expected to be self-sacrificing and stop someone with a weapon that can kill nine people in less than 30 seconds. The administration is expected to appease parents with procedures that might—or might not—work.
“I’m 16. I don’t have a solution.”
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A student at Wheeler High School was arrested Friday morning and the school was briefly placed on a lockdown after the student was found with a weapon, according to the Cobb County School District.
A spokesperson for the CCSD classes and other activities have resumed after a Code Red alert was issued. The student wasn’t identified, nor was the weapon specified.
UPDATED, 5:45 p.m.: According to the Cobb Sheriff’s Office, Rolando Figueroa Moore, 18, of a Terrell Mill Road address, was booked into the Cobb County Adult Detention Center around noon Friday on felony charges of weapons possession on school ground and bus hijacking and a misdemeanor count of carrying a weapon without a valid license.
He is being held on a bond of $27,720, according to jail records, which said Moore was arrested by Cobb County School District police on the Wheeler campus at 9:05 a.m.
Here’s the statement from the district:
“This morning, students made Wheeler administration aware of a rumor of a current student who had made a threat to Wheeler’s campus. Wheeler’s campus was put on code red while Wheeler administration and Cobb County School District police investigated. During the investigation, a suspect was arrested and found to be in possession of a weapon. Wheeler administration, staff, CCSD police, and District student-safety supports performed well. All students are safe, and the school is operating on a normal schedule while CCSD police continue their investigation.”
The incident at Wheeler is the third at an East Cobb high school involving lockdowns or threats of violence in the last two weeks.
Last week a Walton High School student found to have had alcohol in a water bottle was arrested after kicking an assistant principal and threatening to come back and shoot up the school.
Also last week, a man trespassing on the Sprayberry High School campus was found to have had a gun and was arrested by school district police. A code yellow alert was issued, meaning that the outside doors to the school are locked but classes and other activities continue inside.
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A Walton High School student who is accused of attacking a school administrator and threatening to shoot up the school was arrested over the weekend, charged with making terroristic threats, battery and other offenses.
Ty William Holder, 17, of a Cove Island Drive address in East Cobb, was booked into the Cobb County Adult Detention Center on Saturday morning, according to the Cobb Sheriff’s Office.
The charges include felony counts of making terroristic threats and battery against school personnel and misdemeanor accounts of simple battery against a police officer, alcohol possession on public school grounds and underage alcohol possession, according to the jail records.
Holder was released to his own recognizance on a $11,200 bond late Monday afternoon, according to the Cobb Sheriff’s Office.
The jail records indicate Holder was arrested at Peachford Hospital, a Dunwoody facility that treats individuals with addictions and mental health issues.
The incident was first reported by WSB-TV, which said a Walton assistant principal confronted the student about alcohol in a water bottle during a class last week. The student was upset and kicked the principal, then threatened to return to the school and “kill everyone,” the report said.
East Cobb News asked the Cobb County School District for more details about the incident, and a spokesperson issued this response:
“Staff in all Cobb Schools are trained in prevention and intervention best practices and care about the welfare of every student in the District. Walton High School staff responded quickly and appropriately and did what they have been trained to do: prioritize every student’s safety while keeping the focus on teaching and learning.”
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Sprayberry High School was on lockdown for part of the school day Friday after a trespasser was found on campus with a gun.
A Cobb County School District spokeswoman said a man was walking on school grounds when he was confronted by the school staff, who then discovered he had a gun.
She said a Code Yellow alert was issued, which means that the outside doors to the school are locked but classes and other activities continue inside.
“The incident did not disrupt the school day, and at no time were students threatened or in danger,” said the spokeswoman, who said the district would be pursuing charges against the man.
According to the Cobb Sheriff’s Office, Daniel Ryan Caudell, age 44 or 45, was arrested at 1:30 p.m. at Sprayberry by the Cobb County School District police.
He was booked into the Cobb County Adult Detention Center on a felony charge of possession of a weapon at or near a school, and a misdemeanor charge of alcohol possession on public school grounds, according to the Cobb Sheriff’s Office.
Jail records list Caudell’s home address as Aleta Drive, located near Sprayberry, and that he is being held on a $6,270 bond.
“The safety of our students and staff is our highest priority and we will continue to remain vigilant in ensuring our campus security,” the Cobb school district spokeswoman said.
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Given the deadly mass shootings at an El Paso, Texas Walmart over the weekend, Marietta Police are releasing details of a knife incident at Walmart store on Cobb Parkway Monday morning that led to the peaceful arrest of a man.
Marietta Police said officers were dispatched to the Walmart store at 210 Cobb Parkway (just south of the Big Chicken) at 7:49 a.m. Monday in what was labeled a family dispute. The initial 911 call indicated there were no weapons or injuries.
By the time police arrived, they were getting calls from the public and the 911 call was upgraded. That’s because a man later identified as the caller picked up a large kitchen knife from a store aisle and tried to remove the packaging. Police said he also was aggressively approaching a Walmart employee.
Marietta Police said officers found the suspect and arrested him without incident. He’s Jerry Wayne Thompson, 50, a white male of an unspecified address, who was booked into the Cobb County Adult Detention Center on charges of simple assault and disorderly conduct.
They also said such an incident, where nobody got hurt or more serious charges were not filed, don’t alway warrant such a public explanation:
“The Marietta Police Department understands our community is concerned after the horrific shootings that occurred over the weekend in Texas and Ohio. We recognize how events like the one detailed above could cause the average person anxiety and are working now to organize another Civilian Response to Active Shooter Event (CRASE) training seminar. We will share the CRASE event details as soon as they are finalized. Today, we applaud Walmart for the coordinated and methodical way they worked with us to ensure everyone’s safety.”
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Megan Bode is flanked by Cobb Fire investigator Brian Beaty (in black shirt) and Cobb Fire Chief Randy Crider, and Cobb Fire Department officials at Station 21 on Lower Roswell Road. Ken LeCroy (in suit) of the Georgia Arson Control Board presented her with a check for $8,500. (ECN photo by Wendy Parker)
It was 3:40 in the morning on Jan. 4, 2017, when Megan Bode got text messages from her estranged husband.
She was staying with her parents when the photos he texted her showed racing fuel on the floor of the garage of their Indian Hills condo and of him holding a butane lighter.
She previously received a call from him and feared he might kill himself, and was on the phone with a 911 dispatcher when she got the photos.
“I tried to talk him down, but he hung up,” Bode says now, remembering how at first her mother didn’t want her to go to the condo on Audobon Drive, but then drove her to the scene.
When they arrived, Bode’s home and several others at the Pinecrest at Indian Hills condominiums were engulfed in flames. Three units, including the condo Bode had shared with Matthew Olson—and from whom she had been separated—were destroyed.
Crews from Cobb Fire Station 21 on Lower Roswell Road were sent to an address in the 4000 block of Audobon Drive after someone there called 911 threatening suicide. They ended up working a devastating fire that broke out as people were sleeping.
Although nobody was injured, 21 trucks and emergency vehicles had battled the blaze that lit up the East Cobb sky.
“What he did was terrible,” Bode said of Olson, now her ex-husband, who was arrested that day. “He could have hurt people.”
Firefighters trying to put out a fire at the Pinecrest at Indian Hills condominiums on Jan. 4, 2017. Matthew Olson pleaded guilty to first-degree arson and was sentenced to six years in prison. (Cobb FD photo)
Olson, now 34, was charged with first-degree arson and more than a dozen other offenses. This June, after pleading guilty to arson, he received a 20-year sentence with six years to serve, and was ordered to pay $6,653 in restitution to Bode.
Olson also was sentenced to serve five years for attempting to elude a police officer, three years for possession of a controlled substance and 12 months for DUI, according to Cobb Superior Court Clerk’s Office records.
He pleaded guilty in June to those charges, stemming from his arrest in a vehicle on Johnson Ferry Road near Woodlawn Drive a few hours after the fire. The sentences are to run concurrently, and Olson is being credited with time served, according to the court records.
Cracking a tough type of crime
For giving investigators the photos and telling them of Olson’s stated intent to start the fire, Bode helped them solve what they say is one of the hardest crimes to prove.
“It’s because the evidence is being destroyed,” said Jimmy Taylor, Cobb deputy fire chief. “We rely a lot on what citizens can tell us.”
Megan Bode got a photo of racing fuel in the condo garage from Matthew Olson on the morning of the fire, and turned it over to investigators.(Cobb FD photo)
On Friday, Bode received an $8,500 check from the Georgia Arson Control Board at Station 21, and at the behest of Cobb fire investigator Brian Beaty, who investigated the fire that left her home an ashen rubble.
“I don’t feel like I was a hero,” said Bode, who got divorced, rebuilt the condo and lives there today while running 3-D Physiques, a fitness studio at Parkaire Landing Shopping Center.
“I was not expecting this at all.”
Beaty, currently Cobb’s chief fire investigator, said getting the photos made their case a lot easier.
“Usually, you don’t get photos” demonstrating such an intent to commit arson, he said.
To effectively fight crime, Cobb fire chief Randy Crider said, “it has to be a community effort. . . . Any cooperation we get from the citizens of Cobb County is greatly appreciated.”
Ken LeCroy, a consultant for the Georgia Arson Control Board, said the organization hands out around 10 rewards every year. The funding comes from the insurance industry.
He said the reward program is designed to encourage citizens to report arson without fear of retribution. Similar to Crimestoppers, they can offer tips anonymously. This case was different.
Another photo Matthew Olson texted to Megan Bode before the fire broke out. (Cobb FD photo)
“Ms. Bode did this because it was the right thing to do,” LeCroy said.
Rebuilding and moving on
Bode said that losing her home at the hands of her then-spouse was emotional, but she went to her job the day after the fire.
“It was a matter of sink or swim,” she said.
On July 11, Olson was moved to the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson, according to the Georgia Department of Corrections, and his sentence has a maximum release date of January 2023.
His mother, Juli Olson, was grateful that her son was granted first-offender status with the consent of the victims. She wrote a letter in July to Cobb Superior Court Judge Mary Staley that’s included in court records expressing “my complete and genuine thankfulness . . . for giving my son a second chance at a better and new future when he is released.”
Olson’s mother wrote “I can only imagine what Megan and those families went through those first excruciating hours and in the days, weeks, months and years following. My heart can believe it was hell on earth. The extreme emotional trauma and pain and the devastation of losing everything they had, is beyond words.”
Bode said that Matthew Olson, her former husband, “has been battling a lot of demons,” mainly addiction.
“I forgave him a long time ago,” she said. “I hope he can rebuild his life.”
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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 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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Cobb Police said a woman was arrested Wednesday after an attempted robbery of a Wells Fargo Bank branch on Powers Ferry Road.
Police said Sandra Daniel, 66, was found in her vehicle near Delk Road and Bentley Way not long after the incident. That’s near the Wells Fargo branch at 1547 Powers Ferry Road, at Wildwood Parkway, where they said the attempted robbery occurred Wednesday afternoon.
Police said a female suspect handed a bank teller with a note saying she had a bomb, and demanded an undisclosed amount of cash.
A short time later, police said Daniel was taken into custody without incident.
Police have not provided further information.
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Cobb Police are looking for a man they say punched an elderly woman in the face before stealing her purse this week at a grocery store parking lot.
Police said the woman, 84, was robbed in the parking lot of a Publix store at 2451 Cumberland Parkway on Tuesday morning, then got away in a 2005 Toyota Camry in the photo above.
The car has extensive damage on the rear-side passenger door and has dealer drive-out tags, according to police, who did not have a physical description of the male suspect.
Police said anyone with information is asked to call the Cobb Police Crimes Against Persons Unit at 770-499-3945.
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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.
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Cobb Police have released security camera photos of a man they said robbed a T-Mobile store on Delk Road earlier this month and they’re asking for the public’s help in identifying and finding him.
Sgt. Neil Penirelli, a Cobb Police spokesman, said a man came into the store at the Delk Road Spectrum Shopping Center (2900 Delk Road, at Powers Ferry Road) on May 18 at 10:21 a.m., armed with a gun.
Police said the man approached sales employees and demanded they take him to a safe, and ordered them to give them their phones and other accessories.
The employees then were told to remain in a backroom as the suspect left the store, police said, adding that he stepped into an awaiting car.
The car is described as a newer model black Nissan Virsa.
Penirelli said T-Mobile is offering a reward through Crime Stoppers, and anyone with information can submit it anonymously at 404-577-TIPS (8477).
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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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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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An East Cobb man charged with raping a woman at her home in the Johnson Ferry Road area in February has been indicted.
Kendal Guerin Chaves, 34, of Lerose Court, was indicted by a Cobb grand jury last week on one count of aggravated sodomy, one count of aggravated assault, one count of first degree burglary and one count of battery.
He was charged by Cobb Police on Feb. 10, two days after a woman living on Colony Drive, off Little Willeo Road, said a man knocked on a window in the morning and attacked her after she answered the door.
According to the indictment, Chaves gained unlawful entry into the home, committed anal rape against the victim, choked her and caused bruises to her neck, face and arms.
Chaves was booked into the Cobb County Adult Detention Center without bond, according to jail records.
He also was charged with DUI, a misdemeanor, at the same time. Chaves pleaded guilty in late January to a cocaine possession charge and had been sentenced to three years’ probation, according to court records.
The court records further show that his probation was revoked due to the DUI charge, and on March 26, Chaves was resentenced to serve two years.
According to Cobb jail records, Chaves was released to the custody of the Georgia Department of Corrections on April 11.
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Cobb Acting District Attorney John Melvin announces that the DA’s Office is partnering with various groups to mark Crime Victims’ Rights Week, April 7-12. In addition, the Georgia Office of Victim Services will host a Victims Visitors’ Day in Augusta later in the month.
“Victims suffer emotionally, physically, and financially from the criminal acts committed against them. As a community and as service providers, we have an obligation to recognize the impact of crime on victims and to provide resources and assistance to help victims heal,” said Kim McCoy, Director of the Victim Witness Assistance Unit in the Cobb DA’s Office. “These events reinforce the theme of this year’s week of recognition in that we honor our past through events of remembrance and celebrate hope for the future in gathering items needed for service delivery programs.”
Local Crime Victims’ Rights Week events will begin April 7 with a Homicide Memorial Service, sponsored by the Crime Victims Advocacy Council. The service will be from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. April 7 at Vinings United Methodist Church, 3101 Paces Mill Rd., Atlanta.
The Georgia Criminal Justice Coordinating Council will host a ceremony on April 8 to mark National Crime Victims’ Rights Week. The ceremony, from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., will be held at the Forsyth County Administration Building, 110 East Main St., in Cumming.
On April 9, the Cobb Board of Commissioners will present a proclamation to mark Cobb County Crime Victims’ Rights Week during the Commission’s 9 a.m. meeting at 100 Cherokee St. in Marietta.
The Cobb DA’s Office will host a “stock the shelves” party at 2 p.m. on April 12 to support liveSAFE Resources and SafePath Children’s Advocacy Center. Both organizations directly support crime victims in their immediate time of need. Requested items include mini water bottles, juice boxes, variety snack packs, tissues, and toilet paper. Bring an item and receive an ice cream cone!
On April 24, crime victims or their family members can discuss their offender’s case confidentially with representatives of the Department of Corrections, the State Board of Pardons and Paroles, and the Department of Community Supervision during Victims Visitors’ Day. The event will be held at Augusta Technical College, and appointments are available between 10:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. To schedule an appointment, contact Darrell Reid at 404-651-6544 or darrell.reid@pap.ga.gov before April 23.
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