As crime wave kills 2 more, authorities take aim at gangs

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - After another flare-up of the violent crime sweeping the region, authorities will look at ways to curb gangs that are blamed for much of the violence.

Georgia’s attorney general is coming to town on the heels of another violent weekend that included two slayings:

On Sunday, the body of Morris Harden, 58, of Augusta, was found just off the roadway in the 1200 block of Watkins Pond Road in Burke County. He’d been shot, and the case is being investigated as a homicide.
And on Saturday, Nicholas Jovantay Hall, 31, of Swainsboro, was shot dead on Stokes Avenue in the Emanuel County community of Twin City. Peggy Ann Milton, 34, was arrested.

Although Richmond County has been the focus of a lot of the outbreak that emerged in the spring, it’s moving to outlying areas, like the latest killings.

The violence has even spread across the Savannah River, with two multiple homicides just outside Aiken – the 65-year-old man outside North Augusta.

MORE | Aiken County law enforcement agencies discuss crime outbreak

On the Georgia side, Attorney General Chris Carr on Tuesday hosted a Columbia County meeting of the Georgia Anti-Gang Network. The agenda for the coalition of local, state and federal agencies includes “new and ongoing efforts to fight criminal gang activity across the state,” according to Carr’s office.

The meeting came as Carr has gained the power to prosecute criminal gang activity statewide.

It also came as the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office and other agencies have teamed up against gang crime with Operation GRACE, which includes roadblock checkpoints in targeted areas.

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During a recent effort that involved two checkpoints, authorities made 29 arrests and seized 11 guns, 6 pounds of marijuana, 5.6 grams of cocaine, 67.8 grams of methamphetamine, 177 prescription pills.

After the rash of violence started emerging in spring, Roundtree was quick to blame gangs for at least part of the problem, saying: “We have plans for selected enforcement action to target those criminals who are participating in gangs and the associated gun violence and drug trafficking.”

RICHMOND COUNTY CRIME WAVE:

Operation GRACE as well as dozens of high-tech cameras in crime-prone areas have been some of the signs of that effort.

“This activity will continue until these gang and their associates realize that the Sheriff’s Office will not rest until they stop or are put in jail,” Roundtree said at the time.

In addition to this past weekend’s killings, homicides and suspicious deaths across the CSRA include:

On July 5, authorities discovered the body of 65-year-old Bobby Miller, who’d been shot dead in a closet at 5274 Dogwood Drive just outside North Augusta. His son, Jason Glenn Miller, 42, has been arrested.
On July 2, Barry J. Redding, 39, and Stephan A. Poole, 40, of Aiken, were shot dead at a suspect has been identified as Hasheem Keywaun Rond Glover, 20, of Salley.
On June 30, Thaddeus Rodregus Price, 22, of Augusta, was shot just before 1 a.m. at Sycamore Drive and Alpine Road and pronounced dead on the scene at 2:03 a.m.
On June 26, a shooting on Wadley Drive in Aiken left three teenagers dead. Two suspects were arrested and another remains at-large in the deaths of 17-year-old Willie L. Garrett IV, 16-year-old Ivan Perry and 16-year-old Cameron Carroll.
Tammy Mantooth, 57, from Lola, Kansas, was pronounced dead June 23 after being found in the back of a sport utility vehicle at Azalea Park Apartments, 1814 Fayetteville Drive in Augusta. The death os considered suspicious.
A shooting early June 19 in the 700 block of Broad Street claimed the life of 31-year-old Percy Luther Johnson of Fredericksburg, Va.
Around 3 a.m. Saturday, Trevor Sumpter, 25, of Barnwell, was shot dead in the 200 block of Bomba Street in Barnwell. A suspect has been arrested.
At 10th and Broad Street in downtown Augusta, a shooting claimed the life of 21-year-old Logan Etterle early June 12. Two suspects have been arrested.
Also on June 12, Jakwan Gunter, 19, was found shot dead at 11th Avenue and Grand Boulevard. Deputies told News 12 they believe the shooting was gang-related.
On June 14, Eurl Kittles, 42, of Augusta, was fatally shot at a Captain D’s restaurant at 3166 Wrightsboro Road. Authorities are searching for Ravanell Gomillion, 40, in connection with the slaying.
On June 3 in the 100 block of Pelzer Street in Warrenville, 34-year-old Lacey Toole was shot dead by her boyfriend John Williams, who then turned the gun on himself.
On June 2 on Summerhill Avenue, 37-year-old Yoni Vargas shot his wife, 33-year-old Rosa Salguero-Landaverde, then killed himself.
On May 29, a shooting killed two people – 17-year-old William Mykell Lowery and 30-year-old Christopher “Scooter” Dunn – at a “Freaknik”-themed party being held at a ballpark outside Sandersville, Ga. The shooting is believed to be the result of an altercation.
Patricia Dent, 65, was strangled to death by her boyfriend Joseph McKinnon, who then buried her body in their yard at 102 Tanglewood Drive in Trenton, authorities say. They learned of her death on May 7 after finding McKinnon dead of a heart attack he suffered while burying Dent.
A shooting just before 7:30 p.m. on April 23 claimed the life of Rodriquez Dunn, 31, at the Olmstead Homes in the 2100 block of B Street in Augusta. Dunn suffered at least one gunshot wound and died at the scene.
On April 19, Brittany Dougherty was found slain outside a vacant home in the 1500 block of Conklin Lane. Her death was considered suspicious from the start, but within hours the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office ruled her death a homicide.
On April 18, Johnnie Coleman was found shot dead in the 1900 block of Old Savannah Road. Authorities released a photo of a car suspected to have been linked to that slaying. Kelvin Lewis, 33, has been arrested as a suspect in the murders of Coleman and Dougherty.
Jenefer Holt Herron, 52, of Augusta, died late April 18 after being shot during an argument outside the Circle K at 1739 Walton Way in Augusta. Suspect Yelena Buckner, 33, of Augusta, was later found and arrested on charges of murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, deputies reported.
JaJuan Russell, 21, of Augusta, was fatally shot early April 17 in the 3700 block of Oslo Road in Augusta. Russell was taken to Augusta University Medical Center.
Sandersville police found the body of a man on April 16 inside a home on Gwendolyn Street while responding to a report of a domestic dispute at the address. Santavious Louis Roberts, 35, of Sandersville, was arrested.
Brandon Peebles, 24, of Girard, was shot around 10:45 p.m. on April 14 in the 2300 block of Prague Court. He was pronounced dead at 11:23 p.m.