Author: Robert Preston

A 19-year-old Douglas man is behind bars after allegedly beating and strangling his 17-year-girlfriend over a cell phone. According to a report obtained from the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office, Victor Hugo Oliva, 19, of a Whispering Pines address, attacked his girlfriend while she was driving her car on Baker Highway. The report states that the argument began over the girlfriend’s cell phone. She wouldn’t give Oliva the password to her phone and, as the report states, he became aggressive. Oliva then hit her in the face with his elbow, according to the report. She then stopped the car in Shear…

One minute into Friday night’s game between the Coffee Trojans and the Valdosta High Wildcats at Jardine Stadium, if you’d told me that the final score would be 37-14 Coffee, I’d never have believed it. Not the way the game started. Not the way Valdosta came out of the gate clicking on all cylinders. Not the way they went 69 yards on a handful of plays, including a double pass on the first play of the game that chewed up most of those 69 yards, and scored a touchdown 63 seconds into the game. To make matters worse, on Coffee’s…

Wednesday, Tywone “Squirm” Brewton, 18, was granted a bond and released from the Coffee County Jail. Brewton had been incarcerated since July 21 after being charged with aggravated assault in the July 14 drive-by shooting of Ricardio Mitchell, 28. Brewton had been in jail 90 days and had not been indicted by a Grand Jury. As such, he was entitled to a bond. On July 14, Mitchell was shot in the head on South McDonald Road. Brewton was almost immediately a suspect in the shooting. A week later, he turned himself into authorities. Mitchell remains hospitalized and no further arrests…

A week after a Coffee County jury found Wallace Lee guilty of double murder, two more accused killers were in court Wednesday for bond hearings. Neither were granted bond; however, one, Elton Gregory Griffis, 52, will have his day in court in December. The other individual charged with murder, Jasmine Williams, was denied bond Wednesday. Williams has been in jail over a month for the Sept. 16 shooting of Gregory Swinson, 25, at a Walker Street address in Douglas. Swinson survived the shooting but passed away on Sept. 20 at Savannah Memorial Hospital. Griffis’s attorney filed a motion to reconsider…

According to a press release issued by the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office on Monday afternoon, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation is investigating the death of a man booked into the Coffee County Jail Saturday afternoon. Sheriff Doyle Wooten asked the GBI’s Douglas Regional Office to investigate the death of 28-year-old Shannon Ashley Rewis. The Douglas Police Department arrested Rewis on Friday, Oct. 20, on probation violation warrants and transported him to the Coffee County Jail for processing. While being booked into the jail, Rewis developed medical issues and was transported to Coffee Regional Medical Center. Rewis died around 5 p.m.,…

Friday afternoon, a deceased white male was found near the City of Douglas’s annex building on West Cherry Street. The individual has been identified as Donald Barnes, 62, who lived a short distance away from where he was found. According to Coroner Brandon Musgrove, Barnes had been out taking care of a few errands on foot and was returning home when he died. Video cameras on several businesses nearby have Barnes on camera as he made his way back home. The last place he is believed to have visited is Flash Foods on the corner of Highways 158…

Coming into Friday night’s Homecoming match-up with the Northside Warner Robins Eagles, two of the Coffee Trojans’ games had been decided by three points or less. The Trojans had lost both. The Trojans finally reversed their fortunes against the Eagles, winning 14-12 in a close contest that wasn’t decided until the final 68 seconds of the game. Northside came into the game on the heels of a three-point overtime loss to another set of Trojans — those from Lee County — last week. The Eagles’ offense looked tired and worn down and had trouble building any momentum at all. The…

At Thursday’s Rotary Club meeting, the club heard from Rotary member John Day and GracePointe Baptist Church’s Archie Rish, both of whom were instrumental in bringing the Night to Shine event to Douglas last February. A Night to Shine is sponsored by the Tim Tebow Foundation and provides special needs children and adults with a special prom experience. It’s held each year on the Friday before Valentine’s Day around the world. Both Day and Rish learned of the event independently of each other and submitted applications for an event in Douglas. They ended up working together, with their respective churches…

Andrea Taylor, Douglas-Coffee County Chamber of Commerce President and Executive Director of the Douglas-Coffee County Development Authority, has accepted a similar position with the Jeff Davis County Development Authority and will step into her new role on Oct. 30. Taylor has served as president of the local Chamber since Nov. 1, 2015. Previously, Taylor served under former Chamber President JoAnne Lewis for five years, first as entrepreneur and small business development director then as vice-president. Thursday, Luke Morgan, Chairman of the Douglas-Coffee County Economic Development Authority, released the following statement: “Andrea Taylor has accepted a position as Executive Director of…

Thursday afternoon, after a very short deliberation, a Coffee County jury found Wallace Lee guilty on all counts in the November 2015 murders of Meghan Bowen, 33, and Carlos Harden, 39. Testimony began Tuesday morning attorneys spent Monday selecting a jury in the case. Closing arguments took place Thursday morning and wrapped shortly before noon. The jury deliberated just over an hour before returning a guilty verdict. Just after 1 p.m., the jury returned to the courtroom with the verdict. Nearly two years ago, Lee, now 44, was charged with murder in the deaths of Meghan Bowen, 33, and Carlos…