East Cobb murder

Top East Cobb stories for 2018: Johnson Ferry Road accidents claim two teenagers; 2014 murder conviction

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Johnson Ferry Road accidents
An 18-year-old motorcyclist died in March after crashing into a landscaping truck on Johnson Ferry Road. (ECN file).

Two 18-year-olds from East Cobb were tragically killed in Johnson Ferry Road accidents in 2018.

Alexander Seidnitzer, who worked at Zeal Kitchen & Bar and was planning to attend culinary school, was heading southbound on Johnson Ferry near Bishop Lake Road on the morning of March 26 when he slammed into a landscaping truck that was pulling out of a subdivision.

After being rushed to WellStar Kennestone Hospital, Seidnitzer was pronounced dead. No charges were filed in the accident.

Friends, family and work colleagues held a celebration of life event in his memory at Zeal.

On the July 4 weekend, a recent graduate of Pope High School was traveling in a vehicle further up on Johnson Ferry when she rolled down a window and began yelling and screaming before falling out and hitting the road.

Alyssa Prindle, who was planning to attend Georgia Southern University, never left intensive care at Kennestone and died of her injuries on July 25.

The driver of the SUV, 17-year-old Abigail Cook, also of East Cobb, was arrested and charged with vehicular homicide, DUI and other charges. In November, she was indicted by a Cobb grand jury.

Other major public safety stories for 2018 in East Cobb include the August conviction of a man for the murder of Jerry Moore, who was found stabbed to death in his home off Holly Springs Road in January 2014.

Johnathan Allen Wheeler worked at a Woodstock bakery that Moore financed and that was run by Ross Byrne, who was Moore’s roommate. Byrne was charged with homicide two weeks after Wheeler was sentenced to two consecutive life terms.

Former Pope volunteer wrestling coach Ron Gorman received long sentences for sexually abusing young athletes, both in East Cobb and in Pennsylvania, where he coached previously.

A former Kell High School teacher of the year is facing charges of sexually assaulting a student from 2016 and 2018.

Robert New, a former officer at Cobb Police Precinct 4 in East Cobb, was arrested for aggravated assault of a woman, solicitation of a minor girl, possession of computer pornography and other charges. He resigned shortly after that in June.

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Man convicted for 2014 East Cobb murder sentenced to two life terms

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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.Johnathan Allen Wheeler, East Cobb murder

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.

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East Cobb senior living home worker indicted for death of resident

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Sunrise at East Cobb, East Cobb senior living home

A Cobb County grand jury has returned murder and other indictments against a Powder Springs man charged with the death of a resident of an East Cobb senior living home.

Landon Jean Pierre Terrel was arrested in August after Adam Bennett, 91, died after being found badly beaten at the Sunrise of East Cobb facility (1551 Johnson Ferry Road.)

According to media reports, Bennett suffered broken ribs, a lacerated kidney and a punctured lung. He died after being taken to WellStar Kennestone Hospital, and Terrel was later charged with felony murder and aggravated battery.

The indictments against Terrel, which were posted late last week by the Cobb District Attorney’s Office, include felony murder, elder neglect and elder abuse.

Terrell is being held without bond at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center.

Other East Cobb-related indictments from last week include the following:

  • David Sutton Meredith, of Autumn Leaves Lane, 4 counts of child molestation and aggravated child molestation (held without bond);
  • John Joseph Geng Jr., of Water Wheel Court, 2 counts of methamphetamine or amphetamine trafficking, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon (held without bond).

 

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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!

East Cobb assisted living center worker charged in death of 91-year-old resident

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Sunrise at East Cobb

An employee at the Sunrise at East Cobb assisted living facility has been charged with murder after a 91-year-old resident there died on Friday.

Landon Terrel, of Powder Springs, has been charged with felony murder, aggravated battery of a person age 65 or older and neglect of a senior care resident. According to Cobb Sheriff’s Office records, he was arrested late Wednesday.

Cobb Police said Adam Bennett, 91, died on Friday at WellStar Kennestone Hospital where he was taken Tuesday via ambulance due to injuries suffered at the facility. Sunrise at East Cobb is located at 1551 Johnson Ferry Road, just north of Roswell Road.

Cobb Police said detectives concluded Bennett had been assaulted at the assisted living facility by someone on staff. (Here’s the information police have released.)

According to a Fox 5 report, the victim suffered broken ribs, a lacerated kidney, and a punctured lung.