Teen Beaten at Party Died From Lacerated Heart, Coroner Says

How could anyone, or in this case, any PEOPLE, do this??

God forbid someone killed one of my children- they'd have to put me away too because I'd kill the bastard(s).
Atlanta, Georgia (CNN) -- Bobby Maurice Tillman, the Georgia teen stomped to death outside a home where a party was being held, died from a lacerated heart, Douglas County Coroner Randy Daniel told CNN Tuesday.

He said the 18-year-old likely suffered a break in a rib bone, which in turn punctured his heart. If the young man had not been stomped, he probably would not have been injured in that way and would have survived the beating, Daniel added.

Police say Horace Damon Coleman, 19, Emanuel Benjamin Boykins, 18, Quantez Devonta Mallory, 18, and Tracen Franklin, 19, stomped and beat Tillman outside a party in metro Atlanta over the weekend. The four men are facing felony murder charges.

Douglas County Sheriff Phil Miller has said the attack happened after some girls got into a fight, and one of them hit a boy. That boy, according to Miller, said he wasn't going to "hit a girl," but the next guy who came by was going to get "beat down."

Tillman walked by.

Miller said the victim was a "little guy, 18 years old, 5-foot-6, weighed 125 pounds."

"He was small in stature, but ... his spirit and his strength were bigger to me than this world," Tillman's mother, Monique Rivarde, told CNN Tuesday. "My son was bullied by four cowards."

No drugs or alcohol were found at the scene, according to the sheriff, who said he doesn't expect any more charges in the case.

DNA Links Convicted Killer to Four Murders in Bridgeport. Are there Others?

Emanuell Lovell Webb convicted of manslaughter of a woman in Georgia now faces trial in the strangulation murder of 34-year-old Elizabeth "Maxine" Gandy.

DNA evidence has also linked him to the murders of Sharon Cunningham, Minnie Sutton, and Sheila Etheridge. During the late 80s and early nineties, more than a dozen women were killed in Bridgeport.

He lived in Bridgeport from 1987 until August of 1993 when he moved back to Georgia. He was charged in July 1994 in the murder of Evelyn Charity, whom he sexually assaulted and strangled. Webb plead guilty and received a prison sentence of 20 years. He was paroled in 2001.

May 22, 2008, Webb pleads no contest to murdering Sharon Cunningham, Minnie Sutton, and Elizabeth Gandy. More details to come.

Child Molestation Suspect Kills Self

WOODBINE, Ga. -- A 25-year-old woman accused of molesting seven boys younger than 16 years old earlier this year was found dead in her Camden County Jail cell Friday.

Detention officers at the Camden County Sheriff's Office Public Safety Complex in Woodbine, Ga., said they discovered Amy Mykkanen hanging from an air conditioning unit by her bed sheet and unresponsive in her cell about 5:30 a.m.

She was unable to be revived.

Investigators said another inmate in the cell was asleep when Mykkanen hanged herself.

"She did leave a note saying she had planned this," Camden County Sheriff Tommy Gregory said. "She didn't let anybody know, and basically leaving a note to her parents and officers and inmates saying she was sorry for hurting them."

Agents with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Camden County Coroner's Office were called to investigate the death.

"We're trying to review to see if there's anything that we missed that could have keyed us off to prevent this," Gregory said.

According to an indictment, Mykkanen had sexual contact with seven boys younger than 16. She was facing eight counts of child molestation, one count of statutory rape and one count of enticing a child for indecent purposes.

Investigators said one 13-year-old boy's parents and grandparents called police in July and told them the boy had been molested by Mykkanen, an acquaintance of the family.

Investigators said they seized laptop computers with cameras and digital video cameras from her home.

Mykkanen's husband is in the Navy. The sheriff said he is deployed at sea and has been notified of his wife's death.

Bishop Eddie Long Denies The Sexual Abuse Charges Filed Against Him During Sunday Sermon

Dreamin' Demon – You know what I enjoy more than watching a snake oil salesman work his craft and fleece the stupid of their hard earned money?

Watching the media expose a snake oil salesman before his peers, revealing what he truly is.

In the case of Bishop Eddie Long, the leader of Atlanta’s New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, he is being exposed as a manipulative, homosexual hypocrite along the lines of Larry Craig and Mark Foley. The man marched against same sex marriage, and his anti-gay stance was so tough that civil rights leaders refused to attend the funeral of Coretta Scott King that was held at his megachurch.

But surprise, surprise, the good old gay-hating bishop was doing what he could to make life for gays miserable in one hand, while allegedly caressing the dicks of 17-year-old boys in the other. Four young men have now came forward, charging Long with using his position to force them into sexual relationships while treating them to gifts, trips in private planes and stays in luxury hotels. Long cancelled a few scheduled interviews where he was to address these charges, promising to address them in his Sunday sermon.

“It will be tried in the court of justice, and dealt with in the court of justice,” Long told 8,000 parishioners on Sunday. “I feel like David, against Goliath, but I’ve got five rocks, and I haven’t thrown one yet.” Although there was loud bleating applaud from his flock, interviews afterwards showed mixed reactions.

B.J. Bernstein, the lawyer for Spencer LaGrande, Jamal Parris, Maurice Robinson and Anthony Flagg, has said she has proof of the relationships between Long and her clients in the form of photos, texts and e-mails. Some of these pictures are already making their rounds on the Internet, showing Long posing before a mirror in a variety of muscle shirt outfits. ”What pastor in his right mind sends a picture from himself, posing in his bathroom in a muscle shirt?” Bernstein said. “None that I know of — especially one who is a committed homophobe.” lol, I know, right?

Rumors are that this is just the tip of the iceberg, and that more victims will surely come forward. In the meantime I will sit back in watch in amazement. Not at Long’s continual denial of all of the charges despite the very incriminating evidence (I mean come on, who sends pics of themselves to young boys dressed as Milli Vanilli?) but rather the members of his church who will continue to stand by him and put money in his pockets.

ANOTHER Child Left In a Car.. How Does This Happen??

Officials: 21 Month Old Child Dead, Was Left Inside Parked Van

MONROE COUNTY, Ga. -- The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the death of a 21-month-old child.

A preliminary investigation indicates Joseph Chatmon was left inside a parked vehicle at Samuel E. Hubbard Elementary School in Forsyth, officials said.

Investigators said the child, restrained in a child safety seat, was left inside the vehicle from the time his mother, 23-year-old India Chatmon, arrived at work Friday morning, until she left work late that afternoon.

Chatmon is an employee at the school.

Officials said as soon as Chatom discovered her son in the van, she immediately drove to the Monroe County Emergency Room with the child where he died.

The body was transported to the GBI Crime Lab in Decatur for an autopsy, officials said.

This incident is still under investigation by the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.

I'm Surprised at CBS News for Airing A Violent Death

Very tragic...

911 Caller Arrested in Georgia Mobile Home Slayings

BRUNSWICK, Georgia (CNN) -- Guy Heinze Jr., the son of one of the victims of last week's killings of eight people in a southeast Georgia mobile home, has been arrested on eight counts of first degree murder, police said Friday.

"This arrest is the result of a compilation of physical as well as testimonial evidence," a police statement said. More details were expected at a police news conference set for Friday evening.

Heinze, who is unemployed, told police he was not home when the killings occurred.

He had been arrested on charges of having a controlled substance and marijuana, as well as tampering with evidence and making false statements to a police officer, Glynn County Police Chief Matt Doering said.

According to the earlier arrest warrant, Heinze provided "investigators with false and misleading information about his whereabouts and involvement in the circumstances leading up to him calling 911 to report the deaths of his family members."

The arrest warrant also said he removed a shotgun from the residence and hid it in the trunk of his car.

A man identified as Heinze reported the slayings. He told an emergency dispatcher when he called Saturday, "I was out last night. I got home just now, and everybody's dead. ... My whole family's dead. It looks like they've been beaten to death."

Seven of the eight victims will be buried Saturday, as a 3-year-old who was injured struggles to survive at a Savannah hospital.

The toddler's grieving grandmother, Diane Isenhower, who lost four of her children in the rampage, said the child is on life support.

Police said seven of the victims died in the mobile home, and the eighth died Sunday at a hospital.

The funeral for Joseph L. West, 30, is to be held at mid-month.

For the other seven, viewing was scheduled for Friday night, and a funeral is to be held Saturday afternoon at Youngs Island Church in Eulonia, Georgia.

West was the boyfriend of Chrissy Toler, 22, who died along with her father, Russell D. Toler Sr., 44, and three siblings: Michelle Toler, 15; Michael Toler, 19; and Russell D. Toler Jr., 20. Michael Toler had Down syndrome.

Russell Toler Sr. and Isenhower were divorced.

Also killed were Guy Heinze Sr., 45 and Brenda Gail Falagan, 49, police said.

Clint Rowe, whose wife is Isenhower's sister, said the family was having trouble coping with the losses and noted that police, too, were affected.

"They're the ones who walked in on that, so you know it wears on the police as well," he said. Referring to Isenhower, he added, "It has been a long week for her. She's lost all of her family, so naturally it would be."

"They're just as nice as they could be," Rowe said of the victims. "Friendly folks. Down-to-earth folks."

Russell Toler Sr., who worked at a nearby factory, was a generous man who allowed relatives facing financial and health problems to live with him. There were 10 people in the mobile home, and their combined salaries were low, Rowe said. Among them was Toler's sister, Falagan, who was in a wheelchair.

Police have not said how the victims died, although autopsies were completed Monday.

The bodies were discovered Saturday at New Hope Plantation mobile home park, north of the Atlantic coastal city of Brunswick. Police have released few details of the crime scene.

Doering acknowledged that there is fear in the community but said that releasing details of the slayings won't allay it.

"We, too, have that same fear. We're the ones that have to get out there and try to make people feel better as best that we can," he said.

Friends: Pastor Mistakenly Killed In Drug Sting

STEPHENS COUNTY, Ga. -- A pastor was shot and killed following a drug sting in Stephens County, Ga., on Tuesday, and the officers involved and friends of the pastor are giving different versions of what led up to the shooting.

The Stephens County coroner confirmed that 28-year-old Jonathan Ayers was pronounced dead at Stephens County Hospital on Tuesday.

Ayers, a father-to-be, was the pastor of the Shoal Creek Baptist Church. He maintained a personal blog linked off the church's Web page, jonathanayers.blogspot.com.

Sheriff Randy Shirley said that officers had been involved in an undercover drug sting at an unnamed establishment in Toccoa. He said the target of the sting was a passenger in Ayers' car. Shirley said Ayers dropped the woman off and went to the Shell station. He said the officers followed Ayers there.

Shirley said, outside the Shell station, the plain-clothes officers identified themselves with a badge. The officers said that Ayers put his car in reverse and struck an agent. They said they opened fire on Ayers when he drove toward the second officer. Two shots were fired in the car, one hit Ayers. The officers said Ayers sped away and crashed about a half mile from the Shell station. They said they found him conscious and alert, but he died a short time later.

The woman who was the subject of the drug sting was arrested, but police are not identifying her yet. She is charged with selling cocaine. Other charges against her are pending.

Investigators said they did not find drugs in Ayers' car.

"They deserve punishment," said Ayers' sister, Rebecca Floyd. "They deserve to feel somewhat of the pain we're feeling, because I can't get my brother back he's gone forever."

Floyd said there's no way her younger brother would have run if he would have known the men who had guns were officers. The officers were undercover and weren't in uniform, but investigators said they had badges around their necks and clearly identified themselves.

"I think anyone in that situation would run," Floyd said. "I know I would. If someone pulled up to me with guns, I would run."

She said her brother was known to help strangers.

"I could bet my life on it he did not know her," she said. "I could bet my life on it, because that's the kind of person he was. He was a good Christian man, and that was his goal was to lead souls to Christ."

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has been called in to look at the case. It's still interviewing witnesses and will match those stories to what the officers say happened.

Floyd said her brother's first baby is due in February.

"I'm just heartbroken this baby will never see his daddy or her daddy," she said. "He'll never get that opportunity."

Floyd said she's praying for answers and the strength for forgiveness.

"That's the type of person my brother was," she said. "He would forgive the person who shot him."

Friends who have been discussing Ayers' death in online forums and in e-mails said, unlike the police description of the shooting, they believe Ayers may have just been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

One of many e-mails received by WYFF News 4 said:


"Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2009, Jonathon Ayers was shot and killed by a Toccoa police officer. Ayers was at a walk-up ATM machine to get money to have tires put on his wife's car. After getting his money, he saw men running at him. Thinking he was to be robbed, he ran for his car. He was shot through the door and the bullet went through his lung and liver. He eventually wrecked his car and was taken to Stephens County Hospital. The bleeding of his liver could not be stopped and Ayers died in surgery.

"Later, it was found that the police officer who shot him thought Ayers was involved in a drug deal. When Ayers ran, the officers open fired. GBI and NCIS are involved in this investigation.

"Ayers was pastor of Shoal Creek Baptist Church of Lavonia. He leaves behind a wife and expecting child.

"Ayers was simply at the wrong place, at the wrong time."

The GBI agent in charge of the investigation, Mike Ayers, said, "The shooting happened at the intersection of Broad Street and Currahee Street at a Shell station."

He said, "Yesterday at approximately 3 p.m., we were contacted by the Stephens County Sheriff's Department. There was an officer-involved shooting in Stephens County in the city of Toccoa … Yesterday, the sheriff's department and district attorney's office requested that the GBI conduct an investigation into that shooting, which did lead to a fatality."

Mike Ayers said, "At this time, I really can't release any specific information concerning the investigation."

"This is one of those tasks the GBI typically gets involved in anytime an officer is involved in a shooting," Mike Ayers said.

News 4's Kisha Foster spoke to a woman outside Shoal Creek Baptist who identified herself as Jonathan Ayers' sister-in-law. She described him as a "godly man." She said there are "a lot of lies going around about what happened, and the police department is trying to cover up what they did."

The two agents are on administrative leave with pay until the investigation is complete.

Stranger Allegedly Slaps Crying Child in Store

(CNN) -- A Georgia man allegedly slapped a toddler at a Walmart store because she wouldn't stop crying, authorities said.

Roger Stephens, 61, was arrested Monday and charged with first-degree cruelty to children. An incident report obtained from police in Gwinnett County indicated Stephens did not know the 2-year-old girl he stands accused of hitting.

The confrontation happened shortly before noon at the Walmart in Stone Mountain, a suburb of Atlanta.

According to the arresting officer, the child's mother said her daughter was crying as they walked down one of the aisles.

The mother said a stranger later identified as Stephens approached them and said, "If you don't shut the baby up, I will shut her up for you."

A few moments later, while the mother and the crying child were in another aisle, Stephens allegedly grabbed the girl and slapped her across the face.

Police said he hit her four or five times. "See, I told you I would shut her up," the suspect allegedly told the mother.

Authorities described "slight redness" to the toddler's face. Before he was arrested, Stephens apologized to the mother for striking the girl, the incident report said.

Stephens, a Stone Mountain resident, is being held by the Gwinnett County Sheriff's Department.

Golf Pro Arrested On Child Sex Charges

ATLANTA -- Federal agents arrested a metro Atlanta golf pro on child exploitation charges on Sunday.

FBI Special Agent in Charge Greg Jones said that authorities arrested Barry Loman, 45, after he traveled from Peachtree City to meet with someone he thought was a minor child.

He is charged with attempted aggravated child molestation, computer pornography, child exploitation, attempted manufacture of child pornography and reckless driving.

Loman is the head pro at Lake Spivey Golf Club, according to the club's Web site. His bio on the site says Loman is married with three children and two grandchildren.

He is being held at the Catoosa County Jail.

Georgia Slayings 911 Call: 'My Whole Family's Dead'

(CNN) -- In an anguished 911 call, a Georgia man told dispatchers he arrived home to find "my whole family's dead."

"I just got home," a man identified as Guy Heinze Jr. told the emergency dispatcher in the Saturday call, released Monday by authorities. "I was out last night. I got home just now, and everybody's dead. ... My whole family's dead. It looks like they've been beaten to death."

Seven people were found dead Saturday at a residence at the New Hope mobile home park in Brunswick, Georgia, authorities said. Two others were hospitalized in critical condition; one of them died Sunday.

A neighbor of Heinze, 22, placed the call and put him on the phone, as well as the mobile home park's maintenance man. The park manager also called 911, sobbing as she told dispatchers: "Please hurry."

Police said Sunday they have "no known suspects" in the case. "We are not looking for any known suspects," Glynn County Police Chief Matt Doering said. "That doesn't say that there are no suspects. They're just not known to us."

Heinze was arrested Saturday night and faces charges of having a controlled substance and marijuana, as well as evidence tampering and making false statements to a police officer, Doering said.

He told reporters Heinze has been cooperative, and stopped short of naming him a suspect in the deaths. "We're still looking for anybody and everybody that may be related to this," he said. "That naturally includes [Heinze]. Of course we're looking at him."

"I don't know what to do, man," an emotional Heinze told the dispatcher. "My dad, my mom, my uncle, my cousin ... my dad, he's laying there dead. That was my dad."

"It's a house full of people that live there," the neighbor said during the call. "... I know there's a baby. I don't know if the baby was in there or not."

At one point, while the maintenance man, identified only as Mike, talked to dispatchers, Heinze went into the mobile home and reported that his cousin, identified as Michael, was still breathing. Asked to describe Michael, the maintenance man said that Michael is a "young man with Down's syndrome." Heinze reported the youth's "face is smashed in," he said.

Heinze got back on the phone to talk to a supervisor, repeating that Michael was breathing, although he appeared to be having trouble breathing, and needed an ambulance. The dispatcher assured him help was on the way, and tried to question him gently.

"People's beat," Heinze said. "Everybody is dead." Asked what the mobile home looked like, he yelled, "It looks like a [expletive] murder scene."

At the dispatcher's suggestion, Heinze tried to question Michael, asking him, "Where do you hurt?" There was no response.

Doering said Sunday police believe at least one person not in custody may have information in the case. Authorities have not released the victims' identities, waiting for them to be positively confirmed through autopsies, which began Sunday in Savannah, Georgia. However, Doering has said the victims range in age from children through mid-40s.

Police had been called to the home before, Doering said, but would not say why.

He was tight-lipped Sunday about many aspects of the case, refusing to say how the victims died or to give a breakdown of male and female victims. All nine victims lived in the mobile home, he said, and police do not believe any of them conducted the assault.

He said police are making progress and have narrowed down the timeline for when the deaths occurred.

Brunswick is about 300 miles southeast of Atlanta, on the Georgia coast.

Police: 'No Known Suspects' in 7 Georgia Deaths

Come On!!!

(CNN) -- Authorities believe at least one person not in custody may have information about the deaths of seven people in a Georgia mobile home, Glynn County Police Chief Matt Doering said Sunday.

"I'm confident to say that there's somebody, at least an individual, that we would like to know about that's not at the scene," whether or not they were directly involved in the case, Doering said.

The seven were found dead Saturday at a residence in the New Hope mobile home park in Brunswick, Georgia. Two others also found in the mobile home remained in critical condition Sunday, the chief said.

Police have "no known suspects," Doering told reporters Sunday afternoon. "We are not looking for any known suspects. That doesn't say that there are no suspects. They're just not known to us."

One person, 22-year-old Guy Heinze Jr., was arrested Saturday night, Doering said. Heinze is related to one of the victims, he said, and was the one who called 911. He told police he discovered the bodies when he arrived home.

Heinze was being held on suspicion of having a controlled substance and marijuana, as well as evidence tampering and making false statements to a police officer, Doering said. He told reporters Heinze has been cooperative.

"We're still looking for anybody and everybody that may be related to this," he said. "That naturally includes [Heinze]. Of course we're looking at him." He stopped short, however, of calling Heinze a suspect in the deaths.

Autopsies on the victims were taking place Sunday in Savannah, Georgia, Doering said. Police have tentative identifications for the victims, he said. He told reporters later Sunday the victims ranged from children to adults in their mid-40s.

Police have been called to the home before, Doering said, but would not say why.

Doering remained tight-lipped Sunday about many aspects of the case, refusing to say how the victims died or to give a breakdown of male and female victims. All nine victims lived in the mobile home, he said, and police do not believe any of them conducted the assault.

He said police are making progress, and have narrowed down the timeline for when the deaths occurred.

Brunswick is about 300 miles southeast of Atlanta, on the Georgia coast.

Volunteers conducted an extended search of the area around the mobile home, but nothing was found, Doering said Sunday afternoon. Meanwhile, police removed additional evidence from the mobile home. Authorities are examining surveillance video from nearby areas, but are not aware of any surveillance system in the mobile home park, he said.

"There is cause for concern," he said. "We just simply don't have a whole lot to go on, and I'm not going to sit there and tell everybody not to be cautious, because people need to be."

7 Dead Inside Georgia Mobile Home

(CNN) — Seven people were found dead in a mobile home Saturday morning in southeast Georgia, said Capt. Jay Wiggins of the Glynn County police.

Two people were found alive with critical injuries, Chief Matt Doering said in a news release. Police provided no further information on what happened.

Police were alerted to the killings shortly after 8 a.m. when they received an emergency call to New Hope Mobile Home Park in Brunswick, Georgia, where the bodies were found in a residence, Doering said.

Naked Man Hijacks Bus Carrying Students

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- An angry, naked man commandeered a school bus full of teenage students Thursday in Atlanta, police said.

The man drove the bus for less than a mile before a student confronted him and the bus crashed into a wall off the road, according to police.

The incident started Thursday afternoon when the bus stopped to let students out, said Atlanta police officer James Polite.

Arris Pitmon, 23, darted toward the bus and hoisted himself in through an open window, Polite said.

Pitmon took control of the bus as the frightened driver ran to the back of it, the officer said. While the bus was moving, the man abandoned the steering wheel and walked toward the back of the bus, Polite added.

A student then ran toward the steering wheel, prompting the man to fight the student. The unmanned bus continued until it left the roadway and crashed.

Students fled the bus, many using the back door emergency exit, and onlookers subdued the man until police arrived.

Some students were taken to area hospitals. Their conditions weren't available Thursday night.

Chiquita Rogers told CNN affiliate WXIA that the man had tried to hit some of the students, including her 16-year-old, Donte.

"He pushed my son, and that's when my son hit him. I guess everybody started swinging, and everybody just started out the back door, jumping. I'm just grateful that my son is still alive, because it could have been worse."

Onlooker Corey Turner told WXIA, "Children were jumping out the emergency door ... jumping off the bus. ... They were saying, 'Help, help, help! ... Somebody hijacked the bus.'

Suspect In Quadruple Shooting Captured

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Just as police were starting a manhunt in the killing of four people, the suspect drove back to the crime scene in suburban Atlanta, Georgia.

"He was in the Dodge Intrepid that we told the media to look out for," said Gwinnett County police Cpl. Illana Spellman. "He pulled up and said he heard we were looking for him. We handcuffed him."

The man, Richard Ringold 44, is accused of shooting five people in the home he lived in.

Two women and one man died at the residence near the Gwinnett County Fairgrounds, Spellman said.

A woman in her 20s died later at a hospital, she said.

The fifth victim, a 4-year-old child, underwent surgery late Thursday, and another person escaped unharmed, Spellman said.

Police were initially working on a theory that the shootings could have been related to an ongoing domestic violence issue, she said.

It was believed that Ringold was dating one of the women who lived in the home, Spellman said.

He was arrested on four counts of murder and one count of aggravated assault.

Gwinnett County is northeast of Atlanta.

Chattahoochee Tech Instructor Shot, Killed

SMYRNA, Ga. -- Police believe thieves shot and killed a Smyrna man when he surprised them as they tried to break into his truck early Sunday morning.

Joseph Gunn, 54, was found shot outside his home in the 1700 block of Highlands View Drive just before 3 a.m.

Gunn worked as an instructor at Chattahoochee Tech, teaching in the automotive and water sports repair department since 2004.

Channel 2 Action News reporter Ross Cavitt spoke to the detectives handling the case and they said it appears Gunn heard or saw thieves breaking into his truck, parked outside his townhome. When he went to investigate, he was shot.

Gunn was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital where he died.

Police are searching for two black males in connection with the shooting.

Anyone with information about the case should call Smyrna Police at (678) 631-5167 or (770) 434-9481.

Gwinnett Officer Resigns After Alleged Taser Incident At Waffle House

Sorry.. Just the title made me laugh..
LOGANVILLE, Ga. -- A Gwinnett County police officer is off the job following an alleged Tasing incident at a Loganville Waffle House.

A Waffle House employee told investigators that Officer Gary Miles Jr. came into the restaurant while on duty and used the Taser on the employee without provocation.

The incident happened Feb. 16 at the Waffle House in the 2700 block of Loganville Highway, police said. The department launched an investigation after its internal affairs unit received information about possible criminal conduct.

Authorities said the investigation revealed enough probable cause to arrest Miles. Miles, a six-year veteran of the force, resigned from the department this week.

Miles has been charged with one count of battery and one count of violation of oath of office. He surrendered to investigators without incident and was transported to the Gwinnett County Detention Center.

Teen Said Killing Mom Was Adrenaline Rush

ATLANTA -- A police investigator said a teenager accused in the shooting death of his mother on June 2 called the killing "an adrenaline rush."

Detective Frank Trammer of the Sandy Springs Police Department said at a probable cause hearing Wednesday that investigators were stunned at the jovial attitude displayed by 18-year-old Alexander Ezekiel Cordell when they questioned him about the slaying of his mother, 40-year-old Shani Fecht.

Trammer was the only witness to testify against Cordell at the hearing.

Trammer said Cordell told him he fired nine times and emptied the weapon into the vehicle until he was satisfied his mother was dead.

Cordell's attorney, Elizabeth Markowitz of the Fulton County Public Defender's Office, asked about a possible mental health issue. Trammer said there was no history of mental illness.

Fecht was found dead with multiple gunshot wounds in her Isuzu Rodeo near Cordell's apartment.

Police said it appeared that Fecht was shot as she drove up to The Preserve at Dunwoody apartment complex.

After she was shot, Fecht's SUV rolled across the street. News Chopper 2 flew over the scene after the shooting and the SUV could be seen backed up into a grassy area near the Hunters Glen apartment entrance.

Previous Stories:
June 3, 2009: Sandy Springs Teen Charged With Killing Mom

Death Penalty for Ledford

DALLAS, Ga. -- A jury sentenced Michael Ledford to death Friday for the murder of Jennifer Ewing along the Silver Comet Trail.

The same jury found Ledford guilty on Monday of sexually assaulting and killing Ewing on the popular cycling trail in 2006.

"Death is the only penalty that fits this crime," said Paulding County prosecutor Drew Lane during his closing arguments.

During the sentencing portion of the trial, jurors heard from mental health experts who talked about Ledford's problems, including his alcoholism, and how it affects his actions. The defense team also brought in some of Ledford's family members to help plead for his life.

"It makes him crazy," said Sherry Byess, Ledford's sister.

Byess testified Wednesday that drinking turns him into another man.

Ledford's defense team took the jury on an in-depth journey into Ledford's troubled life.

Family members of the 53-year-old victim read emotional accounts of their grief in court Tuesday -- which caused some jurors to cry.

Moonshiner Grandpa Busted In Pot Ring

TRION, Georgia (CNN) --

Story Highlights:
-10 people, including grandpa, son and grandson, convicted on serious drug charges
-83-year-old former moonshiner gets 20 years; son who led operation gets 9 years
-Attorney: "If the father got a longer sentence, it's because he's a lousy father"
-Authorities say case is a microcosm of what's happening across rural America

"The Dodge Neon sped down Interstate 40 in eastern Oklahoma, its occupants heading to Phoenix, Arizona, to buy a load of dope.

It was May 2005. The couple brought along methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana to help pass the time on the long journey.

At that moment, Detective Rob Rumble had no clue that the traffic stop he was about to make would launch a years-long drug investigation stretching more than 2,000 miles, from the remote mountains of northwest Georgia all the way down to Mexico.

The investigation showed how an 83-year-old grandfather adapted to the times, morphing from old school bootlegging to dealing Mexican dope. His son acted as the ringleader of the operation. His grandson was tied in too, authorities say.

"I've seen it all. Nothing surprises me," said Rumble, a drug investigator for the district attorney's office in east-central Oklahoma.

After making that traffic stop, Rumble persuaded the nervous, lanky driver from Georgia to work with authorities and tell everything he knew. Investigators were led to a sleepy pocket of Georgia with scenic mountain views where people wave to strangers from their cars and where some homes still fly the Confederate flag.

It's the last place one might expect drugs from Mexico. But the demand for drugs is reaching even the most remote corners of America.

Their story has all the intrigue of a classic Southern novel -- three generations of a family business on the wrong side of the law, complete with an old fashioned family feud.

"When they're in that type of business, there's a reckoning day -- and apparently this is it," said Benny Perry, the 78-year-old mayor of Trion, Georgia, one of the towns where the family was operating.

Perry is a barrel-chested man and speaks in a welcoming Southern accent. "I'll say this, I was completely surprised," he said. "I felt like we had a problem here, but I wouldn't have thought it was originating in Mexico and coming here."

The drugs, mostly marijuana, were trucked from Mexico through California and Arizona and then distributed across five counties in Georgia and one in Tennessee, authorities say. They were hidden in just about anything -- furniture, roofs of big-rigs and tire wells. Once the shipments arrived, the dope was put in 50-caliber ammunition cans and buried in the woods, where buyers would pick up the stash and leave behind thousands in cash, authorities say.

At the heart of the operation was 46-year-old Michael Leon Smith, who authorities say became one of the richest men in Chattooga County, population 25,000, as he laundered his drug money by buying up dozens of pieces of property. One tract of land sits on Old Justice Road, an ironic name considering the law finally caught up with him.

Smith's 83-year-old father, Paul Leon Faulkner, was also busted. Eight others, including Faulkner's grandson (Smith's nephew), pleaded guilty to an array of charges related to the drug ring. The drugs mostly involved marijuana, but methamphetamine and cocaine were also part of the smuggling operation, authorities say.

"We love it when somebody says they can't be caught," said Del Thomasson, a special agent with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation who worked the case.

Faulkner, who is suffering from cancer, was handed a 20-year sentence last month and is to head to prison in August. "Twenty years, that is a death sentence," said Giles Jones, Faulkner's attorney, adding that he has appealed the sentence.

He said Faulkner was a "full-time mountain shiner" who could talk moonshine until he was "blue in the face," but knew little about the Mexican marijuana operation. Jones said the old man's son "threw his ass under the bus" to save himself.

"It's a situation where I guess you're just looking out for yourself. It's every day as every day, man," said Jones.

Not so fast, said Cathy Alterman, the defense attorney for Smith, Faulkner's son.

"Michael didn't throw his father under the bus. His father threw Michael down the drain when he was 16 years old," Alterman said. "If the father got a longer sentence, it's because he's a lousy father. ... He was never there for his son, except to be a bad example."

Smith is serving a nine-year sentence in federal prison in Montgomery, Alabama. Faulkner's grandson is also serving a nine-year sentence. There is no parole in the federal system.

Alterman said the sentences are excessive for people involved in dealing marijuana, a substance she says should be legalized. (REST OF ARTICLE)