GA- Suspect in carjacking a molester (killed by passerby)

Posted in Related Deaths

9-17-2005 Georgia:

The carjacker-kidnapper shot dead Monday by a passer-by in Cobb County had a conviction for sex crimes and has been tentatively connected to a rape last week in Acworth, police said Tuesday.

Despite his conviction for child molestation and statutory rape, Brian O'Neil Clark, 25, does not appear in the state's database for sexual offenders, and state officials were at a lost to explain why.

As details came out about her abductor Tuesday, so too did a picture of the victim. Kimberly Boyd, 30, was kidnapped at gunpoint shortly after leaving her office Monday morning, police said. She died when Clark turned into the path of a cement truck, causing a collision.

Friends say she was considering a shift from working mother to stay-at-home mom.

Investigators also revealed that Boyd had been shot as she struggled with her abductor. The coroner did not detail the extent of her wound, but police believe she was alive when the cement truck hit her Toyota Sequoia broadside.

As Clark was fleeing that accident, he was shot dead by motorist Shawn Roberts, who had seen Boyd and Clark struggling and followed as the car careened down U.S. 41 in Acworth. Cobb police Lt. Kevin Flynn, said Tuesday that Roberts, 31, was cooperating and appeared to have acted lawfully.

Roberts said he believes that killing Clark probably saved more lives.

Clark had a history of criminal offenses in Cherokee and Cobb counties, according to police and court records.

In April 2002, he was arrested in Illinois and returned to Georgia to face child molestation, statutory rape and burglary charges in Cobb, where he received an 18-month sentence, jail records show.

In Cherokee, Clark was convicted in 2004 of first-degree forgery and was released June 13 after a year in state prison.

Family, friends mourn

Clark had been placed on the sexual offenders database operated by the Georgia Bureau of Investigations after his conviction in Cobb, GBI spokesman John Bankhead said. He was removed from the list while serving time for the forgery conviction, but should have been added after his release three months ago, Bankhead said.

3 dead, 1 injured

Posted in Related Deaths

3-26-2012 Georgia:

MOULTRIE — A Colquitt County man was one of three people fatally shot early Monday morning at a residence near the Colquitt-Tift County line in what is believed a murder/suicide.

The Observer has learned that Darrell Dewayne Ward, 42, one of those who died at the Innis Road residence, lived a short distance from the location where the shootings took place.

Tift County Sheriff’s Office Maj. Bobby Brannen confirmed earlier Monday that three people were dead at the residence, located off U.S. Highway 319 South near Omega.

Tift County’s 911 center received a call shortly before 6:30 a.m. about a person being shot, Brannen said.

A fourth person was transported by air for emergency medical treatment.

Brannen did not release any additional information, and the other fatalities have not been identified. It is believed, but not confirmed, that two of the dead are related to the woman who was air lifted, possibly mother and father.

Ward had moved back and forth between Colquitt and Tift counties since his release in April 2007 after he served nearly 10 years at Autry State Prison in Pelham, authorities said. He pleaded guilty Oct. 31, 1997, to the rape of a Lowndes County woman and began serving his sentence in state prison in December of that year.

On Jan. 15, Ward changed his sex-offender registration to Colquitt County from Tift County, after having moved from here to Tift County in 2010.

In a plea arrangement on the rape charge in Lowndes County, counts of false imprisonment, aggravated stalking and burglary were dismissed at the time he pleaded to the rape charge, District Attorney David Miller said.

The Georgia State Patrol charged Ward in July 2010 in Colquitt County with driving under the influence, failure to maintain lane, failure to provide assistance and driving without a license on his person. It was not immediately known whether those charges had been disposed of. ..Source.. by Alan Mauldin

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GBI: Ward was shooter in murder-suicide

3-27-2012:

TIFTON — The Georgia Bureau of Investigation Sylvester Office and the Tift County Sheriff’s Office began a joint investigation at 7:30 a.m. Monday into a murder/suicide that occurred in Tift County, the GBI reported.

Kim Baker, special agent in charge, provided a press release Tuesday stating that two adults discovered deceased inside the residence located at 103 Iniss Road in Tifton have been identified as James Williams Peters Sr., approximately 57 years of age, and Shirley Ann Peters, approximately 53 years of age. Both had sustained what appeared to be gunshot wounds.

A third person also found deceased at the residence was identified as Darrell Dewayne Ward, approximately 43 years of age, who had sustained a gunshot wound to the chest.

So far, the crime scene examination and interviews conducted by the GBI and the Tift County authorities indicate that sometime after 10 p.m. Sunday, Ward drove to the Peters’ residence, armed with a handgun, and mortally wounded James and Shirley Peters, shot their daughter and then fatally shot himself. The daughter is expected to recover from the injuries that she sustained during the attack.

The bodies of the deceased are being transported to the GBI Crime Lab for autopsies.

The investigation by the GBI, TCSO and the Tift County Coroner’s Office continues.

Ward had moved back and forth between Colquitt and Tift counties since his release in April 2007 after he served nearly 10 years at Autry State Prison in Pelham, authorities said. He pleaded guilty Oct. 31, 1997 to the rape of a Lowndes County woman and began serving his sentence in state prison in December of that year.

On Jan. 15, Ward changed his sex-offender registration to Colquitt County from Tift County, after having moved from Colquitt County to Tift County in 2010.

In a plea arrangement on the rape charge in Lowndes County, counts of false imprisonment, aggravated stalking and burglary were dismissed at the time he pleaded to the rape charge, District Attorney David Miller said.

The GSP charged Ward in July 2010 in Colquitt County with driving under the influence, failure to maintain lane, failure to provide assistance and driving without a license on his person. It was not immediately known whether those charges had been disposed of. ..Source.. by The Tifton Gazette CNHI

Shootout kills three

Posted in Related Deaths

8-28-2010 Georgia:

DALTON, Ga. — What started as a 4-year-old girl’s birthday celebration Thursday ended with little children cowering in an attic for safety as family members died below in a hail of gunfire.

The girl’s mother, Mindy Bullard, 35, was shot twice while begging for mercy and fleeing across the family’s roof. On the ground, her ankles broken, she dragged herself toward a neighbor’s yard.

She survived, and her injuries are not life-threatening, authorities said, but three men died in the exchange of gunfire, including the alleged perpetrator, David Hartline, a 41-year-old convicted child molester from Summerville, Ga., who deputies believe was drunk and full of jealousy.

Bullard’s father, Edward H. Manz III, 61, of Chattanooga, and her ex-husband, Kenneth Simonson, 41, of Cleveland, Tenn., also were killed but not before Manz fired at least two deadly rounds at Hartline.

Bullard had been trying to end a tumultuous six-month relationship with Hartline when she told him not to attend the family birthday party Thursday afternoon.

He showed up anyway. Shunned a second time, he grabbed a gun, and started on a deadly attack, Whitfield County Sheriff Scott Chitwood said.

Bullard, a mother of seven children ranging in age from 4 to 16, begged for Hartline’s mercy moments after hoisting her children to safety in the home’s attic, 911 calls indicate.

“His name is David Hartline. He’s in my house, and he’s got a gun,” Bullard said, after telling a child to get into the attic. Hartline yells an explicative-filled rant with allegations that Bullard had been seeing another man. She denies everything and begs, “Please don’t hurt me, David.”

A voice that is apparently Hartline yells across the line “I’ll ... put this gun to your ... head and pull the trigger right now!”

Seconds later, gunfire echoes across the phone line and the call ends. Bullard was later wounded in the legs as she ran across her home’s roof, the sheriff said.

In other calls, witnesses plead for faster response. Deputies took a little more than 10 minutes to get to the scene, according to an incident report.

“People shot out here on Rainbow Circle, get the ambulances out here quick,” a male voice pleads. “Man is killing people out here, killing people!”

The line goes silent after the caller says, “Oh, here he comes.” And then there are four gunshots.

When Whitfield County sheriff’s deputies arrived at 1751 Rainbow Circle, they found Bullard on the ground behind the house, according to the sheriff’s department incident report.

SHELL-SHOCKED CHILDREN

Six children were in the home for the birthday party Thursday. A family member said it was rare for Bullard and Simonson to have all their children together at one time, but everyone had united for the birthday party.

Four children live in the rural north Whitfield County home and three live with Simonson. A 16-year-old girl did not attend the party. Bullard has children by both Simonson and another man, family and friends said.

Some of the children hid in the attic, but Margaret Manz, Bullard’s aunt and the sister-in-law of Edward Manz, said at least one of Simonson’s sons was found hiding in the woods two hours after the shooting.

“It’s just tragic,” Margaret Manz said. “Mindy feels awful. She’s in terrible pain, and she blames herself.”

Deputies ushered the children to Azalea Thompson’s home two doors down on Rainbow Circle as they sorted out the scene. She’s known the children for years, and had had them over to play her Nintendo Wii on several occasions.

“The kids were quite not themselves,” Thompson said Friday while standing on her porch in the heavily wooded neighborhood with big yards and large homes. “We hugged them, and my daughter made them popcorn and tea and they played the Wii.”

She said the children, who were later taken to stay with a relative, acted as though they were numb. Some knew family members had been shot. One or two of the children may have realized someone died, Thompson said.

FATHER’S COURAGE

Bullard has been complaining to family members for some time that Hartline was causing her trouble.

Her father “had told me that within the last couple months, she had gotten involved with someone who turned out to be a psycho and was making her life miserable,” Margaret Manz said.

Hartline served a seven-year prison sentence for child molestation and was released in 2007, state prison records show.

From her Summerville home, an aunt of David Hartline said the family was still absorbing the shock from the previous night. She said the Hartlines didn’t know Bullard’s family very well.

“It’s just a loss for everybody involved,” Judy Hartline said. “We’re feeling for our loss as well as the other family’s. It’s a tragic event. That’s our family’s comment at this time.”

Deputies theorize that despite being wounded himself in the exchange of gunfire, Manz managed to unload two shots into Hartline before dying himself.

Though Edward Manz, whom friends knew as “Buster,” had a sometimes strained relationship with his daughter, he was always there for her. The large home on four acres of land was owned by Manz, neighbors said, and he often performed odd jobs there.

“They had their ups and downs, Mindy and Buster, but when it comes down to it, blood is thicker than water, and he wasn’t going to let that guy kill his grandchildren,” Margaret Manz said. ..Source.. by Adam Crisp

Man killed while trying to stop rape

Posted in Related Deaths:

In essence, the offender (Lema) shot and killed an innocent person (Zephyrine).

2-28-2012 Georgia:

POOLER, GA (WTOC) - A man is dead and one of his co-workers is being charged in connection with his death.

Police said that on Friday afternoon, inside the OA Logistics warehouse on Clyde Alexander Way, Christopher Lema, 23, fatally shot 28-year-old Nickifor Zephyrine.

According to the police report, Lema was trying to rape a female employee when Zephyrine interceded, causing Lema to shoot him.

A former employee of OA Logistics, who doesn't want to be identified, said that according to another source: "[Zephyrine] was trying to get [Lema] off the girl and [Lema] turned around and punched [Zephyrine] in the eye and [Lema] just pulled a gun out and shot [Zephyrine] in the head."

GA- Follow-Up on Echols County Shooting

A strange set of circumstances, but to understand how this is "sex offender related" readers will have to read both stories below:

5-28-2008 Georgia:

Ricky Brown was born and raised in Echols County and enjoys living here.

"A good place to live if you like quietness," Brown says. "That's why it was a shock to everybody."

The "shock" came Sunday night on Lisa Circle. At 10:30, the Echols County Sheriff's Office received a call complaining of loud noises and honking coming from a house owned by Chad Wiggins.

A deputy soon arrived and found Wiggins along with 35-year-old David Coody, Jr. arguing with 67-year-old Billy Corbett.

The Sheriff's Office says Corbett took out a concealed gun and shot Wiggins and Coody, killing them both.

Relatives say Corbett fired the shots because he felt his wife was being threatened.

Carlos Harrell, Corbett's brother-in-law, says, "Anybody out there would. They'd probably do the same."

The Sheriff's Office says that's not true. The deputy had the situation under control when the shots were fired.

Echols County Sheriff Randy Courson says, "The deputy done exactly from what I can tell as he should have."

After Corbett fired the shots, the deputy shot him and Corbett died from his wounds.

Friends and family of the three victims are still in shock.

Don Rea, a friend of Chad Wiggins, says, "This is ridiculous. Those two men who got shot were unarmed."

Cristina McGuire, Corbett's granddaughter says, "We're not coping too good. Grandpa was a big part of this community."

"It doesn't end here," Rea says, "a funeral doesn't end this."

The Georgia Bureau of Investigations is looking into the case as it does all officer-involved shootings.

Sheriff Courson says the deputy involved is on paid leave until the G-B-I completes its investigation. ..News Source.. by John Rogers

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Investigation ongoing in Echols shootings
5-28-2008 Georgia:

ECHOLS COUNTY — A feud among neighbors that continued to intensify despite the efforts of Echols County law enforcement may have contributed to the deaths of three men Sunday night.

Echols County Sheriff Randy Courson said that it could be several weeks before the Georgia Bureau of Investigation releases any sort of official report on the domestic dispute gone wrong. He said that the process of conducting autopsies and toxicology tests can be a slow one. He does not know when all of the findings will be made available to his office.

“We just have to wait,” he said.

At 11:28 p.m. Sunday, an Echols County Sheriff’s Office deputy, whose name is being withheld until the GBI investigation has been completed, was sent to address a downed power line, Courson noted. A few minutes later, he received word of a complaint of loud music and shots fired in the 200 block of Lisa Circle. The deputy cleared the power line and then made his way to the neighborhood, which sits some 100 yards from the intersection of Lisa Circle and Tince Road. He arrived on the scene at 11:58 p.m., Courson said.

Despite rumors to the contrary, Courson said that was the only time the deputy had been dispatched to the neighborhood that particular evening.

On the scene, Courson said the deputy addressed the excessive noise issue with the men and women involved. While he was doing so, a verbal dispute occurred between at least one of the women and a next-door neighbor living at 207 Lisa Circle. That dispute soon turned physical, he added.

As the deputy addressed that situation, 67-year-old Billy Corbett of 207 Lisa Circle pulled a small caliber handgun and fatally wounded David Coody Jr., 35, of Lowndes County, and Chad Wiggins, 36, resident of the home with the alleged loud music. Corbett was then shot and killed by the deputy. He was not shot in the back or shot while lying on the ground, contrary to rumors, Courson said.

Earlier this year, Courson said the Corbett family allowed a convicted child molester to move into a single-wide mobile home on their property with their granddaughter. The Corbetts live in a double-wide mobile home on the same tract of land. Their neighbors did not approve of the registered sex offender living near their children and filed complaints with the Echols County Sheriff’s Office.

“I think the bad blood between them pretty much stemmed from that,” Courson shared. “They really didn’t have any problems before that happened — except a dispute a little while back over land and putting up a fence.”

“We tried to address the situation,” he continued. “We increased patrol in the area, but things simply escalated. I understand their concern as they have small children. We could not legally force the man to move to another neighborhood. From day one, he complied with all requirements. He has done everything he was supposed to do.”

Courson said he does not believe the man was on the property when the shootings occurred Sunday.

No charges have been filed at this time in the shooting deaths.

The deputy remains on administrative leave with pay until the investigation has been completed as protocol mandates, Courson said. ..News Source.. by The Moultrie Observer

GA- The Christopher Michael Barrios, Jr. Story

March 2007 Georgia:

This story must be prefaced with other information which the media, in all reports we can find, have failed to report and is very relevant to this case. Christopher, pictured on the right, was killed by three people -two of which were registered sex offenders- because Christopher lived in the same trailer park as those just mentioned.

Christopher lived there because his father was also a registered sex offender (Christopher Michael Barrios, Sr.) who was forced to live where the Georgia Sex Offender Residency law permitted; the trailer park was a permitted area. Accordingly, the state's "Residency Law" played a significant part in little Christopher's death.

While there is no way to determine if the trailer park was a cluster of former offenders because the media never investigated that aspect, we do know that the law caused these folks to live in close proximity to each other. Why the media never brought this out is unknown. Clearly this case shows that such laws provide no protection for families of registered offenders.

eAdvocate

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One of the many news stories of this case:

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Molester, His Parents Charged In Christopher's 'Horrific' Slaying

Prosecutor To Seek Death Penalty Against 3

BRUNSWICK, Ga. -- A convicted child molester and his father took turns sexually assaulting a 6-year-old boy while the molester's mother watched, then they choked the boy to death, according to an indictment returned by the Glynn County grand jury on Wednesday.

The indictment charges George Edenfield and both his parents with murder, kidnapping and child molestation in the slaying of young Christopher Michael Barrios, whose body was found last Thursday inside a trash bag dumped by a roadside.

Glynn County District Attorney Stephen D. Kelley said he will seek the death penalty against 32-year-old George Edenfield, who has a prior child molestation conviction from 1997, and his parents, David and Peggy Edenfield. "This is one of the most horriffic crimes that I have seen in 21 years of prosecutions," Kelley said.

Christopher went missing for a week before police found his body about three miles from his trailer park home outside Brunswick, a Georgia port city 60 miles south of Savannah. The suspects lived in a mobile home across the street from the boy's grandmother.

The indictment contains grim details about the case that police and prosecutors had not previously revealed. It says Christopher died from asphixation March 8 -- the day he was reported missing -- after the suspects choked him while "ignoring his complaints that they were hurting him."

"It makes me sick and it makes me so angry," said Christopher's grandmother. "All four of them need to be charged with murder and they don't need to be kept alive long. They killed our baby. They don't even need to be alive now."

The indictment does not say which of three caused the boy's death.

It also claims George Edenfield and his 58-year-old father sodomized the boy and forced him to perform oral sex while Peggy Edenfield watched and masturbated.

"They deserve the worst, for them to torture my son like that, every last one of them," said Mike Barrios, the slain boy's father.

A friend of the Edenfield family, Donald Dale, was indicted on charges of concealing a death and tampering with evidence. Kelley said Dale did not become involved until after Christopher had been killed.

Nathan Williams, the attorney for 57-year-old Peggy Edenfield, declined to comment Wednesday. Attorneys for George and David Edenfield did not immediately return phone calls.

Glynn County police arrested the Edenfields four days after Christopher vanished while playing alone outside. Police Chief Matt Doering said all three suspects confessed to playing roles in the boy's abduction.

Police have said Dale admitted to investigators he helped the Edenfields dispose of Christopher's body. Other charges against the Edenfields include false imprisonment, cruelty to children and enticing a child for indecent purposes.

Police have described George Edenfield as mentally slow, but capable of understanding right from wrong. They have said he is not retarded.

Christopher Barrios Jr. disappeared from a playground hear his home about 6 p.m. on March 8. His body was found a week later in a trash bag near the Burnswick airport.

Ironically, the Edenfields moved into the trailer park where Christopher lived last year because of a Georgia law intended to keep child molesters away from children.

Sheriffs' deputies told George Edenfield in September that he had to leave his home near downtown Brunswick because it was too close to a playground. Georgia law prohibits registered sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of schools and other places that draw children.

His family went to live in the trailer park in October after George Edenfield was arrested for failing to move as ordered. He pleaded guilty to the charge and was sentenced to probation March 5, three days before Christopher disappeared.

George Edenfield was required to register as a sex offender after he pleaded guilty in 1997 to molesting two boys, ages 7 and 9. Prosecutors said he rubbed his clothed body "in a sexual manner" against the boys, who also were fully dressed. He was sentenced then to 10 years on probation.

His father, David Edenfield, pleaded guilty to incest in 1994. He was accused of having sex with an adult relative who was not his son. ..Source.. by News4 Georgia.com

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Previous Stories:

March 21, 2007: As Slain Boy's Viewing Begins, 3 Charged With Murder

March 19, 2007: Child Molester Got Probation Days Before Slain Boy Vanished

March 17, 2007: Community Copes After Boy's Search Ends In Tragedy

March 16, 2007: Missing Boy Found Dead; 4 May Face Murder Charges

March 15, 2007: Body Of Missing Brunswick Boy Found

March 15, 2007: New Search, More Evidence, But No Sign Of Missing Boy

March 15, 2007: Police Search Pond, Follow New Tips In Missing Boy Case

March 14, 2007: 2nd Search Warrant Executed At Sex Offender's Home

March 14, 2007: Sex Offender, Offender's Mother Arrested In Boy's Disappearance

March 13, 2007: Police Search Sex Offender's Trailer In Hunt For Missing 6-Year-Old

March 12, 2007: After 4 Days, Police Believe Georgia Boy Was Abducted

March 11, 2007: $27,000 Reward Offered For Missing Georgia Boy

March 10, 2007: Searchers, Family Determined To Find Missing 6-Year-Old

March 9, 2007: After 24 Hours, No Sign Of Missing Georgia Boy

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Defendant ruled incompetent in Ga. child's killing

8-3-2010:

BRUNSWICK, Ga. — A judge has found a 34-year-old convicted child molester incompetent to stand trial for the sexual abuse killing of a 6-year-old boy.

Superior Court Judge Stephen Scarlett declared George Edenfield incompetent on Tuesday to stand trial for the killing of Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. in 2007.

Scarlett ordered Edenfield committed to a state mental hospital.

The child was molested and strangled inside a mobile home before his body was wrapped in trash bags and dumped near a road. Edenfield's father was convicted of murder, and his mother also faces charges in the case.

Prosecutors and Edenfield's lawyers asked for the declaration and cited evaluations by state and defense psychologists showing that Edenfield has a diminished mental capacity and is unable to assist in his own defense.

The judge also ordered state mental health experts to issue a prognosis in 90 days about whether it's likely Edenfield ever will be competent for trial.

"He's smart as a darn whip. He's got them all fooled. He's just putting on a good show," Christopher's grandmother, Sue Rodriguez, said after the hearing.

Prosecutors previously conceded that Edenfield has a diminished mental capacity, but they had insisted he was competent to stand trial.

Edenfield's father, David Edenfield, 61, was found guilty of murdering and molesting Christopher last October. The jury imposed the death penalty.

Christopher went missing March 8, 2007, from the Brunswick mobile home park where his father and grandmother both had homes. His body was found a week later.

Edenfield's family had moved into a home across the street from Christopher's grandmother four months earlier. Police found one of Christopher's toys, a Star Wars lightsaber, in Edenfield's front yard.

In a recorded confession played for jurors, David Edenfield said he and his son sodomized the boy, then choked him to death. He is seeking a new trial on grounds that a prosecutor inflamed the jury by calling him an animal.

No trial date has been set for Peggy Edenfield, 58. She will not face the death penalty because she testified against her husband, and agreed to testify against her son. ..Source.. by AJC.com