Georgia News Briefly — March 29, 2016

Son of slain elderly woman charged

MACON (TNS) — The son of a 76-year-old woman who was found stabbed to death in her Lake Sinclair home earlier this month was charged with murder Tuesday.

Steven Barrett, 57, also was charged with two counts of aggravated cruelty to animals, Baldwin County Sheriff Bill Massee said. Authorities found two of Sandra Brantley Barrett’s dogs killed at the scene.

Steven Barrett is being held without bond at the Baldwin County jail. He was taken into custody March 16, the same day his mother was killed.

Steven Barrett had a history of violence against his mother and their relationship was “volatile,” Massee said. It isn’t known if he had a history of violence against the dogs, but Massee said three cats outside the home were not hurt.

The dogs, both about 5 years old, were named Bella and Sunny, said Massee, who knew the victim and her family personally.

“It’s an unusual crime scene because we’ve worked a lot of murders, but you don’t work too many crime scenes where you go in and not only is an individual killed in her home but also two pets — two animals that were killed in the same manner as the human victim,” the sheriff said.

Purse leads to ID dead pedestrian

MACON (TNS) — A purse strewn down Hawkinsville Road led to the identity of a woman who was hit and killed early Tuesday morning on southbound Georgia Highway 247 in Bibb County.

Amanda Phaye Burton, 29, of Loraine, Ohio, was pronounced dead at the scene after she was hit by at least two vehicles shortly after 6:15 a.m., said Bibb County Coroner Leon Jones.

Both drivers waited in the median as investigators detailed the evidence from the accident while Burton’s body lay in the median of the busy highway.

Samuel Callaway Jr., 51, of Macon, said he was headed south in the inside lane in his white 1996 Dodge Dakota pickup and tried to avoid hitting the woman crossing near McMillan Drive.

“It was extremely dark. I don’t how she ended up out in front of all these cars, all these headlights. That’s what I don’t understand,” a troubled Callaway said after the accident. “I’m just sick.”

The 53-year-old driver of a 2001 Ford Mustang, who ran over the woman, said he initially thought he had hit something that came off Callaway’s truck, but said he had a gnawing feeling that made him turn around and come back.

It wasn’t until after daylight that investigators found her purse and retrieved identification.

Bibb authorities investigating death

MACON (TNS) — Bibb County sheriff’s investigators are looking into a suspicious death at the Brookhaven Townhomes near Presidential Parkway.

A groundskeeper found 46-year-old Marschon Prater dead in his open doorway early Tuesday.

Bibb County Coroner Leon Jones pronounced him dead at 7:45 a.m.

Prater had no visible sign of injury, said Deputy Linda Howard, a Bibb sheriff’s public affairs officer.

Prater’s pickup was missing early on, which lead investigators to take a closer look to determine if Porter was the victim of foul play. By 9:30 a.m., Howard reported the truck had been located and was not stolen.

Deputy Coroner Lonnie Miley said Prater had a medical history and may have died of natural causes, but an autopsy was likely.

Bystander sues over injuries from crash

ATLANTA (TNS) — A dangerous police chase ended with a suspect captured, but an innocent man who was severely injured has filed a lawsuit against the state.

Terry Grizzle is suing the state for $1 million because he was thrown 30 feet in the midst of a police chase, according to Channel 2 Action News.

He has no recollection of the crash, but recently received the dashcam footage from the incident in 2014 through an open records request. Grizzle was on a 12-foot ladder repairing a sign in front of a business, when he was hit by a stolen truck that police were chasing in Lumpkin County.

The police performed a PIT maneuver, which is a controlled crash intended to steer a car to a stop. The maneuver caused the truck to spin out and crash into the ladder, propelling Grizzle through the air. He was critically injured, required surgery, and now wants the state patrol to pay his $200,000 medical bills, he previously told Channel 2.

He and his lawyer, Steve Leibel, sued the Department of Public Safety, saying the state should be responsible for Grizzle’s medical bills.

The state claimed immunity Monday and wouldn’t discuss the issue for Channel 2’s report.

Inmate asks for barbecue for final meal

ATLANTA (TNS) — -A 41-year-old man scheduled to be put to death on Thursday has asked for barbecue for the last meal he gets before his lethal injection scheduled for 7 p.m.

According to the Department of Corrections, Joshua Bishop’s last meal request is a barbecue sandwich, Brunswick stew, potato chips, coleslaw, lemonade and purple candy.

Bishop, 41, is to be put to death for the 1994 beating death of 35-year-old Leverette Morrison. Bishop and his co-defendant Mark Braxley confessed to Morrison’s murder, as well as the murder of another man, within hours of detectives finding Morrison’s body between two dumpsters near Braxley’s trailer. Investigators didn’t even know Ricky Lee Wills was dead until Bishop confessed to killing him two weeks before Morrison’s death.

Though Bishop, 19 at the time, confessed, he still went to trial. He was convicted and sentenced to die.

Braxley, however, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole.

If Bishop is put to death by lethal injection, he will be the third man Georgia has executed this year.

Another execution has been scheduled for April 12. Kenneth Fults is scheduled to die next month for the 1996 murder of his 19-year-old neighbor.