Tifton police seek homicide suspect
Jim West
TIFTON — Officers of the Tifton Police Department are investigating the death of 22-year-old Jessie James Harris II, who was found on his living room floor Monday evening with one bullet wound in his upper body.
Tifton Police Department officers were dispatched Monday to 601 Timmons Drive on reports of a shooting, officials say. Lt. Lee Dunston, investigator with the TPD, said that upon arrival at around 11 p.m., officers found Harris shot once in the upper body with a gun of unknown caliber, Dunston said.
According to Dunston, there was no evidence of a break-in or robbery and potential motive for the crime remains under investigation. Harris was pronounced dead at the scene by the county coroner, Dunston said.
“As far as what we can see right now, the victim opened the door for the killer and was probably shot right there,” Dunston said. “It all happened in short order.”
Dunston said TPD personnel, as well as crime scene technicians from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, worked all night at the residence gathering evidence and interviewing potential witnesses.
Harris’ 4-year-old son was present in the residence at the time of the shooting, Dunston said, but was not harmed. Officials say the boy is being cared for by relatives.
Anyone with information concerning the case is asked to call the Tifton Police Department’s criminal investigation division at (229) 382-3132.
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Dougherty Commissioner Gloria Gaines to serve as honorary sponsor of 2027 international conference in Atlanta
“By Alan Mauldin
[email protected]
ALBANY – In 1898 academic and sociologist W.E.B. Du Bois traveled to southwest Georgia during his summer break from teaching to investigate the lives of black residents in the “Black Belt” and later covered his sociological studies of the region in two chapters of his book “The Souls of Black Folk.”
The academic and peace activist’s visit and subsequent account was more than an intellectual exercise, however, according to Dougherty County Commissioner Gloria Gaines.
Du Bois’ account inspired South Carolina native Joseph Winthrop Holley to move Albany, where he founded the Albany Bible and Manual Training Institute. The institute later became part of the University System of Georgia and became a four-year college in 1943 before its last renaming in 1996 as Albany State University.
Holley was inspired by Du Bois’ writing, said Gaines, who will be an honorary sponsor of The International Conference on W.E.B. Du Bois: Race, Democracy and Global Justice in 2027. The conference is scheduled for April 9-11 in Atlanta.
“I am in admiration (of) his impact on the founding of Albany State University,” she said. “I also appreciate his political philosophy as well. He was clearly identified with Atlanta University and education.”
During her time at Albany State Gaines worked in the office of civil rights attorney C.B, King.
She holds a master’s degree in community development and worked as an assistant general manager for MARTA.
Her travels also have taken her to Africa, where she worked and met Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
For the 2027 conference, Gaines has collaborated with individuals including professor Preston King, C.B. King’s youngest brother..
Last year she traveled to Accra, Ghana, where DuBois died after he was stranded out of the United States for his opposition to nuclear weapons and had his passport renewal denied, for his 157th birthday celebration.
The conference will feature discussions of democracy, equality and human dignity, Gaines said
“Those are issues that were important to him,” she said. “Now is a good time to talk about democracy. Some may see it as under threat. I think this conference will be timely. It’s a timely issue, not just for black folks as well as human dignity and equality within the country.”
