Author: Staff Reports

On Tuesday, August 9, 2022, at approximately 9:00 am. the GBI Douglas Regional Office was requested by the Waycross Regional Youth Detention Center to investigate a juvenile that was reported unresponsive. Preliminary information indicates that a juvenile was in the presence of a staff member and other juveniles at the facility when he lost consciousness. EMS was contacted and the juvenile was transported to Memorial Health Hospital in Savannah, Georgia for treatment. Sources report to DouglasNow that the juvenile, who is from Douglas, has since passed away. This investigation is active and ongoing. Anyone with information…

The Lady Trojans got off to a great start in 2022 with a 6-4 win over visiting Thomas County Central in a scrimmage on Thursday, Aug. 4 at Faircloth Field. Erin Robinson scattered 3 hits through 5 innings and only allowed 1 earned run striking out 7 Lady Jackets from the circle. Karlee Thomas closed the door with a pair of innings in relief striking out 3. The Lady Trojans pounded out 10 hits including 2 each by Imani Paulk, Kaci Thacker, and Hanna Hutchison. Hannah Capps, Morgan Hodges, Ella Winters, and Morgan Adams all added…

Former Willacoochee mayor, Atkinson County commissioner, and South Georgia’s biggest champion Marion “Lace” Futch, age 83, passed away Friday morning, June 17, 2022, in Savannah following a brief illness. Lace, as he was known to all, was a lifelong resident of Willacoochee, Georgia. He was born October 13, 1938, the son of Clarence and Effie Futch and was one of seven children. In addition to his parents, he is preceded in death by son, Keith; daughter, Melinda; four brothers, Luther, Clyde, Clarence and Reuben; sister, Dorothy Lott; and granddaughter, Kay Morris. Lace spent his life working…

Sedric Jermaine Powell Jr. has been arrested and charged with murder, among other charges, related to the Jan. 13, 2022, death of Radderian “Rae Rae” D. Barnes of Douglas, according to a press release issued by the Douglas Police Department. In March, officers from the Douglas Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Unit, with the assistance of the U.S. Marshals, located and arrested Michael Jerome Arnold, Jr. of Douglas. Arnold was charged with Felony Murder, Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Crime, and Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon in connection with Barnes’s death. Arnold…

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…

By Kristen Kitchens In 2017, a Coffee County jury found Brandon Levi Williams guilty of murder in the death of 22-year-old Kavozia Walker. This Friday, Judge Andy Spivey will hear arguments from Williams’ defense attorney for that conviction to be vacated following a filed motion requesting a new trial in the case. Williams was first indicted on the murder charge, along with one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, on May 25, 2016. He stood trial in March 2017, with the primary evidence presented by the state being security footage taken from…