Author: Kristen Kitchens

One of the suspects who allegedly committed numerous armed robberies in Atkinson County, 18-year-old Ashton Zane Hamilton, has now received additional charges in Douglas in connection to a similar local burglary that occurred this month. DouglasNow has also learned Hamilton has a history with local law enforcement, having been arrested numerous times over the last year and was on probation at the time of his arrest. Hamilton and two other suspects were charged last week in connection to several armed robberies in Pearson and Willacoochee. He was charged with Armed Robbery at the time and is currently in…

A physical altercation between two female coworkers at Diamond Cargo led to the arrest of 35-year-old Jessica Thomilson after she allegedly stabbed her coworker, 39-year-old Kristan “Peaches” High, in the leg with a razor knife. According to the report, the dispute began when Thomilson accused High of not clocking out for a dentist appointment. A copy of a Coffee County Sheriff’s Office report stated that on June 13, around 1:46 p.m., a deputy was dispatched to Diamond Cargo, located on Harvey Vickers Road, in reference to one of their employees being stabbed. When the deputy arrived,…

Cindy Youngblood, a Coffee County woman who pleaded guilty to attempting to have her husband killed in 2016, recently filed a motion asking the judge to reduce her 15-year sentence based upon a “procedural change in the law.” On Thursday morning, Judge Andy Spivey denied Youngblood’s motion, stating the argument did not apply to her case, ordering her to complete the remaining nine years of her sentence in prison. Youngblood, age 55, was arrested in August 2016 after she and Reggie Lockhart conspired to kill her husband, a former Coffee County deputy, Anthony Youngblood. On the night the plan was…

Several individuals appeared before Superior Court Judge Andy Spivey this Wednesday for bond hearings, including Latisha Brockington, Michael Clark, and Alexandria Bowen, who was arrested last month on trafficking charges for her alleged involvement in a heroin operation. Brockington and Clark were both denied bond on aggravated assault charges, while the judge has yet to rule on Bowen’s motion for bond. Brockington was charged on May 29 by the Douglas Police Department with one count of aggravated assault after she allegedly shot Courtney Sanders. Sanders was previously charged with the same offense after she was accused of pulling…

Marcus Devin Hunt, 43, of Douglas, stands accused of killing Anita Floyd at her home in Pearson on Wednesday, June 15, 2022, according to Atkinson County Sheriff David Moore. Sheriff Moore told DouglasNow that the Georgia Bureau of Investigations was contacted to take over the case. Based on evidence discovered during the investigation, law enforcement secured an arrest warrant for Hunt in connection with Floyd’s death. Officers found Hunt Wednesday in Ware County, where he was immediately taken into custody. Hunt is being charged with one count of murder and one count of aggravated assault. He…

Monday morning, Jeffrey Harper, one of three men charged with murder in the 2020 death of Vann Brown, was denied a motion requesting bond modification that would have allowed him to travel out of state to attend a fishing tournament in Alabama with his son. Harper was first arrested in August 2020 and was held in the Coffee County Jail for two months until his bond hearing on October 1, 2020. During the hearing, Judge Brooks granted a $250,000 bond with multiple conditions, one restricting him from leaving the state of Georgia. The motion by Harper’s…

A 47-year-old man was denied bond on two serious charges after allegedly forcing a woman to take him to an ATM to withdraw money and then cutting her arm with a knife. According to a copy of a Douglas Police Department incident report, around 12:38 a.m. on June 10, a DPD officer was on patrol in the area of Ward Street and Peterson Avenue when he witnessed a vehicle traveling the wrong way. The car then stopped at the intersection of Ward Street and Peterson, with both the driver and passenger getting out of the car. The driver…

Commissioner Olivia Pearson’s criminal trespass charge will not be moving forward in state court any time soon after the case was recently placed on the dead docket, a list of cases that have not been dismissed but are no longer active. The order was signed during a hearing last Friday and came with two conditions that Pearson must follow to avoid prosecution. The charge stems from an incident on October 27, 2020, when Pearson “entered the property of the Coffee County Board of Elections Office and remained on the premises after receiving notice to depart by law enforcement.”…

The Atkinson County Sheriff’s Office is seeking assistance from the community and surrounding counties in locating a woman, 68-year-old Nancy Echeverria, who was reported missing last Wednesday, June 8. According to an Atkinson County Sheriff’s Department official, Echeverria, known as Veria, is possibly driving a 1994 red Toyota truck with a Georgia license plate number of 2-7-7-7-Q-C. An official with the department told DouglasNow her cell phone had been pinged near Hazlehurst in Jeff Davis without power around 2:15 today. Echeverria is reported to have brown eyes and is 5’5 and 89 lbs. According to…

On Wednesday, Lovie McVeigh was released on bond during a special set hearing less than two weeks after she was arrested on one count of forgery in the first degree. The bond was granted by Senior Judge of the Superior Courts of Georgia Kathy Palmer, who set the hearing date after all four of the Waycross Judicial Circuit Superior Court judges recused themselves from the case. According to a copy of the arrest warrant, McVeigh committed the act when she “knowingly and willfully” altered “several” false affidavits between 2/1/22 and 3/14/22 without the authority of the affiants. The…