The family of Fairuza Hagains, 17, are continuing to seek answers in her disappearance that occurred almost two weeks ago. As of Monday afternoon, Fairuza’s family “had very few clues” about her whereabouts, but fear she may have been picked up by someone she met online. According to a release by the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office, Fairuza, who also goes by the names Marcy and Jules, was last seen on September 6, 2022, in West Green. A family member also said she is suspected to have possibly been picked up by someone around 6:00 a.m. on September…
Author: Staff Reports
Leroy Allen Welch of Douglas, 39, a convicted felon who previously spent five years in prison on local burglary convictions, is back behind bars after being accused of telling two individuals he would “shoot them in their face” and then firing a gun near both men. The victims also reported that Welch made several other remarks, one in which he allegedly threatened to “disassemble their bodies and spread them across the county.” According to a Douglas Police Department incident report, on September 8, after being informed of a possible assault, officers were dispatched to a local business and…
A former Deep South Fuel employee was arrested in June after allegedly stealing and shooting the company’s vehicle and trailer before setting it on fire. Amanda Rena Lott has now been charged as a second suspect in connection to the case on charges of arson and theft. As previously reported, deputies arrived at the location of the burning truck on May 31, and found the truck destroyed by the flames but were able to identify that the truck belonged to Deep South Fuel. Deputies spoke with representatives at Deep South Farm Supply, who said they had an employee,…
In November 2021, a Coffee High School graduate and longtime resident of Coffee County, Jacob Daniel Price, was arrested in Florida after allegedly walking into a local police department and confessing to killing his parents, along with two of their dogs. However, after close to three years, the outcome of the case will not come to a close soon, as Price has been deemed “not competent to stand trial.” The tragic double homicide of the Price family, 51-year-old Jolene Price, and 56-year-old Robert Price, caught the attention of people all over the country, making national and local headlines…
A total of fourteen pending cases in the Superior Court of Coffee County are now ready to be presented to a jury during September’s criminal trial week scheduled for the end of the month. According to a copy of the court’s trial calendar, half of the cases set to move forward consist of defendants facing aggravated assault, with other charges including arson, burglary/theft, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, obstruction of law enforcement, child molestation, and entering an automobile. The calendar lists seven individuals charged with aggravated assault, including James Gregory Burch (two counts); Tomas James…
Clayton Lundy, a man who made headlines last year for allegedly sexually assaulting a young female in Walmart, pleaded guilty this week in the Superior Court of Coffee County. While Lundy was facing life in prison, the plea deal resulted in a lesser sentence, which included 20 years in prison. A Douglas Police Department report accused Lundy of approaching a female from behind in the baby department at Walmart between 8:00 p.m. and 8:15 p.m. on October 31, 2021, and pulling a pocket knife on her. The victim reported that he pressed the knife against her neck, reached…
One person lost their life Tuesday morning following a wreck that occurred around 10:00 a.m. on GA Highway 32 West. Sources told DouglasNow that a Mercury Mountaineer is said to have entered into the opposing lane in the path of a truck hauling ice. The Mountaineer then struck the truck, causing it to turn over. When the ice truck flipped it caught fire, with the driver knocking out a broken window and escaping just before the vehicle became engulfed with flames. He was transported to a nearby hospital to receive a medical check, but was “up and walking” before leaving the…
An altercation that reportedly began over a pair of misplaced AirPods caused Charles William Thrift Jr. of Douglas to receive felony charges last week. The lost item led Thrift Jr. to allegedly hit two family members and threaten to shoot a victim while pointing a shotgun at her. A Coffee County Sheriff’s Office report states that on September 7 around 7:30 p.m. he spoke to a woman at a residence on Rolling Hills Lane in Douglas regarding an altercation that had occurred involving 69-year-old Thrift Jr. The woman reported that she had been asleep but woke up to…
The Douglas Police Department recently arrested Kavonte Shiqwan Debro in connection to a 2020 shooting. Debro was the third suspect to receive charges related to the assault, with the other two apprehended in 2020 and recently pleading guilty. The shooting that led to Debro’s charges occurred on August 8, 2020, with officers reporting that they arrived at a location on East Baker Highway and discovered the victim, Travion Snell, bleeding from the neck with a gunshot wound. Snell ended up being life-flighted to Savannah for treatment, but survived his injuries. According to the report, a witness…
A Coffee County Jail jail officer, Siejdra Harrell of Douglas, has been charged on two counts after she allegedly brought in contraband to an inmate held in the jail. DouglasNow received a copy of the incident report from the arrest, but no details of the case were included. On Friday, DouglasNow reached out to an official with the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office about the jailer’s arrest. The official responded, “After a cell search, jailers with the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office found cell phones and other contraband. After a brief investigation, it was determined that an employee…