Former mayor of Willacoochee James “Jim” Darrell Mills, age 86, of Willacoochee, Georgia, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, December 29, 2020 in Olathe, Kansas. A graveside service will be held 1:00 p.m. at Willacoochee City Cemetery in Willacoochee, Georgia on Saturday, January 9, 2021. Jim was born in Willacoochee, Georgia on January 27, 1934 to Henry Felton Mills and Eva (Cox) Mills. After graduating high school, Jim served his country in the United States Air Force for twenty-one years. During that time Jim was joined in marriage with his late wife, Maxine “Pinky” Mills in May of 1955.…
Author: Staff Reports
On New Year’s Eve, Lisa Ray Martin, a Douglas native, went home from the hospital for the first time since Sept. 27, 2020, when she was admitted for COVID-19. Now living in Blackshear with her husband, Jeff, and their children, she reported to the Satilla Memorial Health emergency room in poor health after being diagnosed with COVID-19. What came next was a three-month nightmare that Lisa’s family wasn’t sure she would survive. Lisa’s family had gathered at the hospital to say their final goodbyes. She was hours away from being taken off a ventilator, to which she had been…
Special agents with the Georgia Department of Corrections’ (GDC) Office of Professional Standards are investigating the death of an inmate at Coffee Correctional Facility in Nicholls, as a suspected homicide. Agents have reason to believe offender Kendall Cromer (GDC#1000175901) died as a result of injuries sustained during an altercation involving another inmate on November 30. Medical personnel responded and life saving measures were performed. Cromer was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced deceased by a hospital physician, at approximately 1:17 a.m. The GDC is conducting an investigation into the death, as standard procedure. Cromer was sentenced…
According to a post published on the Jeff Davis County Sheriff’s Office’s Facebook page Thursday, the JDSO has made a number of significant drug arrests recently. According to Sheriff Preston Bohannon, many of these cases resulted from citizens reporting suspicious drug activity. Reporting such activity “will not only help suppress drug crimes but other crimes that derive from the presence of drugs and in the process help our families and children have a safer and stable home. As a result of our community reporting suspicious activity, several drug investigations were initiated by our office. During these investigations along with…
Friday the 13th was a very unlucky day for a wanted fugitive in Coffee County. Coffee County investigators arrested Charlie Lee Smith Jr. on November 13, 2020. Smith fled from officers on September 30, 2020 as they were about to execute a search warrant at Lamar’s Auto Repair Shop in Broxton. Smith is currently in the Coffee County Jail where he has been charged with Manufacture, Distribute, Possess with Intent to Distribute, Offer to Distribute Explosive Device, Possess or have in his/her control a counterfeit substance, as well as numerous charges of Possession of Schedule II, III, and…
Three individuals have been arrested in connection with a theft of antiques that took place in late October. On October 25, 2020, deputies responded to a residence on Appaloosa Road to a complaint of theft of some antique items. The complainant told deputies that he saw two unknown persons on his property taking parts off one of his trucks. The complainant told deputies that he had confronted the two individuals and noticed they had a trailer loaded down with car parts and other miscellaneous items. The individuals got in the truck and left. The Criminal Investigations Division was…
Due to an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases at Coffee High School, the Coffee County School System has cancelled on-site classes at CHS until after the Thanksgiving holidays. The last day of classes is Thursday, November 12, 2020. Classes at the high school will resume on Monday, November 30, 2020. Students will “attend” classes virtually next week. At this time, no other schools in the system will be closed. The school system released the following statement on its Facebook page about 4 p.m. Thursday: “Due to an increase in the number of positive COVID-19 cases…
On Friday, October 30, 2020, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) arrested former Fitzgerald Police Captain Allen E. Pope, age 54, on sexual exploitation of children charges. Pope was arrested in Fitzgerald, Ben Hill County, Georgia by GBI agents and the Ben Hill County Sheriff’s Office. On Wednesday, October 28, 2020, District Attorney Brad Rigby of the Cordele Judicial Circuit requested that the…
On October 10, 2020, the Broxton Police Department requested the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigation Division assist them in an investigation involving alleged child molestation. As a result of that investigation Therious Nakia Anderson, 45, of Broxton, was arrested and transported to the Coffee County Jail. Anderson made a first appearance bond hearing and his bond has been denied. On October 15, 2020, detectives with the Coffee County Criminal Investigation Division received a report of an alleged child molestation. An investigation was opened and as a result Cory Parker, 40, of Broxton, was arrested and charged with child…
On Thursday, October 15, 2020 at approximately 9 a.m., the Jeff Davis County Drug Unit located Grant Joshua Brinkley, a wanted subject with several outstanding warrants at his residence at 60 Lucy Berge Road. During his arrest, investigators discovered Brinkley to be in possession of methamphetamine. In addition to the outstanding warrants from Appling and Bacon counties, Brinkley will also be charged with possession of methamphetamine by Jeff Davis County drug investigators. Later the same day, at approximately 1 p.m. Jeff Davis County Drug Unit conducted a search at 532 Mt. Pleasant Church Road in Denton after several complaints…