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…
Author: Staff Reports
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time soon after the case was recently placed on the dead docket, a list of cases that have not been dismissed but are no longer active.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…
By Kristen Kitchens John Ralph “JR” Lott, Jr., a 52-year-old local felon who previously pleaded guilty to pointing a firearm at two deputies, was recently taken back to jail on an aggravated assault charge just a few weeks after being released on bond from the Coffee County Jail. According to a copy of a Coffee County Sheriff’s Office incident report, on March 22, a deputy was dispatched to a residence on Travelers Rest Circle in Douglas after a reported shooting. When the deputy arrived, he made contact with Lott, Jr., the alleged shooter, and asked him…
By Kristen Kitchens An Ambrose man will stand trial later this month on an aggravated assault charge, a crime with a maximum sentence of 20 years, following an altercation in 2020. The defendant, 36-year-old Deedrick Donte Pickett, is accused of cutting another man with a knife during a dispute. According to a Coffee County Sheriff’s Office incident report, a CCSO deputy was dispatched to a residence on Ashley Street in reference to a stabbing on April 12, 2020. When the deputy arrived, the victim, 34-year-old Bruce Michael Bryant, had already been transported to Coffee Regional Medical…
By Kristen Kitchens Just two weeks after being acquitted of Tara Grinstead’s death by an Irwin County jury, Ryan Duke has now been indicted in Ben Hill County on six charges related to her death. In the indictment, Ryan is charged with the following: Concealing Death of Another; Hindering Apprehension or Punishment of a Criminal; two counts of Concealment of Facts, and two counts of Tampering with Evidence. The six charges come with a maximum of a 45-year sentence if Ryan is found guilty. Ryan was found guilty of concealing Grinstead’s death, which he…
By Kristen Kitchens Jonathan Vaughn of Coffee County will be sentenced Friday, June 3, 2022, on an aggravated assault charge that he pleaded guilty to earlier this year. An accusation filed in the Superior Court of Coffee County stated Vaughn, 59, was arrested last year after he “willingly and knowingly assaulted” Harry Andrews by shooting him with a .22 caliber firearm on July 14, 2021, between the hours of 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. The shooting occurred in Vaughn’s yard at his residence in Coffee County. Superior Court Judge Kelly Brooks denied a bond…
By Kristen Kitchens For the second time in less than six months, the city of Nicholls is left without a local police chief and officers after they all turned in immediate resignation letters this week. DouglasNow obtained a copy of the letters, with the chief and one officer blaming a “lack of workforce, equipment, and pay” as their reasons for leaving. Former Nicholls Chief of Police Billy Ray Fields, Jr. turned in his letter on June 1, noting it was effective immediately. The letter states, “As Chief, it has been challenging to obtain and be provided…