Author: Kristen Kitchens

According to a recent statewide report, Coffee County ranked second in the most children in foster care based on population. Without population being considered, Coffee County remained in the top 12 counties with the most children currently in the system. The report, compiled with data from the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) and the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS), shows 254 local children per 10k in care as of March 31, 2022. Last year, on the same day, Coffee County reported 208 children per 10k in the system and was ranked…

A local attorney, 45-year-old Marc Gregory Metts, recently spent a weekend in the Coffee County Jail after pleading guilty to a DUI charge for the second time since 2018. According to a copy of the incident report, on December 17, 2021, around 4:21 p.m., a Georgia State Patrol officer was patrolling the area along Georgia Highway 158 around Willis Vickers Road. He reported that as he was traveling east, he observed a silver car off the southern shoulder of the highway facing west. When he drove by, he said he observed the car’s front end stuck in the…

Cody Boyd Porter, who was released from prison in 2020 for serving time on a 2010 robbery conviction, is now back behind bars at the Coffee County Jail after violating his probation. Documents filed in the Superior Court of Coffee County show that Porter was charged with Criminal Attempt to Commit a Felony on April 27, 2010, and pleaded guilty to the charge under the first offender act later that year. In November 2010, following his guilty plea, Porter was sentenced to probation by a Superior Court judge. However, the following month, deputies arrested Porter for robbery after…

Kaitlyn Tanner, 16, has been named Miss Georgia Teen Volunteer at the Miss Georgia Volunteer pageant this past weekend in Atlanta. The pageant is held annually to “empower young women” while giving them scholarship opportunities in the pageantry world. Kaitlyn, adopted by her family at birth, has advocated for adoption awareness for the last several years. Tanner stated that being adopted as a baby after being born seven weeks premature changed her life. “My parents tell me how many things had to fall perfectly into place for our lives to come together. My arrival into this world was…

After months of a decline in new COVID-19 cases, health officials have reported a rise in local cases and positive inpatients patients at Coffee Regional Medical Center. CRMC officials announced a new visitation policy due to the rise, as well as the hospital moving back into the “Elevated Risk” level. CRMC reported ten positive inpatients on Thursday night, with 12 being under their care the previous day. The daily update also shows a 15.29% positive rate, 222 total COVID related deaths that occurred at the hospital, and 2,227 total COVID-19 positive inpatients cared for by the facility since…

A motion for a new trial will be heard in December for Christopher Jones, the man who was found guilty in 2019 of murder in the deaths of Kristian Bell and Steven Ward. Jones was arrested in February 2019, shortly after Bell and Ward’s deceased bodies were discovered in a makeshift grave on a property off Deep Woods Road in Nicholls on February 9, 2019. Local detectives were searching for Bell at the time after her family reported her missing a few days prior. Both victims suffered from apparent gunshot wounds, according to GBI officials. Following an…

A 27-year-old man, Caden Michael Stone of Douglas, was charged with aggravated assault earlier this month after he allegedly assaulted a female by hitting and choking her. Stone, while on probation at the time for prior misdemeanor violent charges last fall, reportedly committed the assault after he became angry that the victim didn’t have any cheese in the home. According to a Coffee County Sheriff’s Office report, a deputy was dispatched to a residence in Douglas in reference to a domestic dispute. When he arrived, a deputy spoke to the victim, who said Stone had come home and…

Kenneth Fritzges, 20, of Broxton, has been charged with rape by officers with the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office after an “online friend” from Minnesota called local authorities and reported Fritzges for allegedly admitting to sexually abusing two girls in Coffee County. According to the report, Fritzges was waiting on law enforcement in the driveway when the deputy arrived and allegedly admitted to the abuse. A CCSO report states that on July 18, a deputy received a call for service by E911 and was told to return a phone call to a complainant regarding an incest case. The deputy…

Marthony Zamark Hood, 22, a suspect in the shooting death of Brad Antonio Collins of Homerville, turned himself over to authorities at the Coffee County Jail on Sunday night. The shooting took place in Homerville. Last week, investigators released a BOLO for Hood, naming him the “lone suspect” of Collins’ death. According to a Homerville Police Department incident report, officers were dispatched to 35 Poppel Square in Homerville last Wednesday, July 20, around 5:49 p.m. in reference to a male who had been shot. The report states that while en route, dispatchers advised officers that the victim, Collins, was being taken to the emergency room at…

In 2016, Douglas native Tyler Chambers moved 8 hours away from his hometown to Nashville with only one dream in mind – doing whatever it took to make a name for himself in Music City as a songwriter/singer. This week, Chambers’ hard work paid off six years later when he signed a global publishing deal with Warner Chappell Music. While Chambers has always loved writing music, his passion for songwriting and singing deepened when he moved to Wyoming to work as a ranch hand after attending college. While in Wyoming, Chambers began picking up his guitar more often,…