Camilla armed robber gets life with no parole sentence

CAMILLA — Law enforcement officials in Mitchell County are celebrating “taking another threat off the streets” in the county.

Travis Donaldson, a Camilla man who had previously served a 10-year sentence for armed robbery, was convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for yet another robbery, this one of a Camilla Family Dollar store.

Donaldson was on trial for the Feb. 4, 2020 armed robbery of the dollar store. Witnesses said during the trial that Donaldson “cased” the store, and then, approximately 45 minutes later, robbed the store at gunpoint. A local citizen was in the store and recognized the defendant and was able to identify him.

Senior Investigator Michael Hall retrieved surveillance video from the store and matched the clothing of the defendant to a Facebook post he previously made. The evidence was overwhelming, officials said, and the jury returned a guilty verdict on all counts after only about 15 minutes of deliberation.

Unknown to the jury at the time, Donaldson had been released from prison just three months prior to the robbery for committing the same crime in 2009, robbing three deacons of the First Baptist Church of Camilla. He was sentenced to 20 years, 10 to be served in prison for that crime. Given that this was his second violent felony, Chief Judge Heather H. Lanier sentenced the defendant to life without the possibility of parole as defined by statute. District Attorney Joe Mulholland tried the two-day case.

“The clerk of Family Dollar was so brave in her testimony,” Mulholland said. “When I told her we were taking a lunch break, she said she was staying in the courtroom and wanted to make sure that the man who almost took her life was held responsible. The citizen who was brave enough to identify the defendant in the store, who I won’t name for fear of retribution, should also be commended.

“In addition, investigator Hall made my job easy. Getting such a dangerous person off the streets of Camilla forever was reward in itself. We will not tolerate such crimes in the South Georgia Circuit, and I thank the jury for their service.”

The Mitchell County Superior Court convened on Jan. 11, and recorded several guilty pleas. One plea of significant importance was the three-codefendant case of Rondraphius Reunique Harris, Jalin Irvin, and Adarin Parker. Chief Assistant District Attorney Michael Bankston charged and prosecuted Harris for aggravated child molestation and violation of street gang terrorism. Irvin and Parker were both convicted on the same charges.

With the assistance of Pelham Police Investigator Adam Lamb, evidence proved that between Dec. 10, 2019, and Dec. 14, 2019, Harris, Irvin, and Parker committed immoral and indecent acts with a child under the age of 16. The three defendants also on those dates did solicit and recruit the child to become a member or associate of the Bounty Hunter Bloods, a criminal street gang.

Harris was sentenced to 30 years to be served in the state penal system, followed by life on probation. Irvin and Parker both were sentenced to 20 years, with 10 years to serve in the state penal system for their crimes.

All three defendants were sentenced by Lanier. Chief Assistant District Attorney Michael Bankston applauded Investigator Lamb for his hard and diligent work on the case.

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