– Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024 –
Good morning. It’s hard to believe we’re already halfway through February. While 2024 continues to chug along, we’re continuing to look for ways to cut through the noise of crime news and get at what’s important in public safety.
This week’s newsletter examines an important and devastating gun violence statistic involving Savannah’s youth, looks at the Brunswick district attorney’s re-election bid and provides an update on the sprawling immigrant labor trafficking case in South Georgia.
Questions, comments or story ideas? You can reach me at jake.shore@thecurrentga.org. Let’s dive in:
Gun injuries among Savannah’s young people
Firearm injuries are the leading killer of children and teens who end up in Savannah’s major trauma center hospital, according to a hospital official.
Emily Burnside, injury prevention and disaster coordinator at Memorial Health University Medical Center, said that gun-related injuries have surpassed car crashes since 2020 as the leading cause of death for pediatric patients at Memorial — the area’s only Level 1 Trauma Center. It’s become the leading cause of death locally, statewide and nationally for children, she said.
Burnside spoke at an event organized on Jan. 25 by Savannah’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (ONSE) in observation of National Gun Violence Survivor Week. The event highlighted the testimony of gun violence survivors, family members of survivors, policy advocates, police officers and community organizers.
The shootings include intentional and unintentional incidents. Burnside told The Current over the phone Wednesday that some children accidentally shoot themselves because they don’t know how to use the firearms they obtain in their homes and are using them to play or as props for social media posts. Homes with safe storage of firearms see dramatically less accidental firearm injuries of children than those without, according to a 2005 study by the Journal of the American Medical Association.
At the Jan. 25 event, ONSE officials encouraged participants to volunteer with their myriad of partners to address gun violence in Savannah. If interested, you can reach them at 912-651-2443 or ONSE@savannahga.gov.
Catching up with the DA
The Current spoke with Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Keith Higgins last week after reporting that a longtime prosecutor and former colleague planned to challenge him.
Higgins, whose office prosecutes crimes in Glynn, Camden, Appling, Jeff Davis and Wayne counties, rode the wave of anger at former DA Jackie Johnson for her role in the Ahmaud Arbery investigation to election as an independent in 2020. Now he’s up for re-election in 2024, running as a Republican and being challenged by a controversial former top deputy under Jackie Johnson, John B. Johnson III (no relation) in the primary. The primary election is on May 21, 2024. The Current tried to interview Johnson last week, but he declined to provide information about his candidacy.
Higgins said he recognized the crisis in faith after taking over from former DA Johnson, who is still awaiting trial in her criminal case. “Being the DA is not just about the experience, it’s about integrity,” Higgins said. “We have worked hard every single day to create public confidence in our office.”
Higgins says some of his accomplishments include getting his agency close to fully staffed (a struggle for many prosecutor’s offices) and providing training and equipment to law enforcement to prosecute gang crime.
There have been disagreements over delays in Higgins’ office processing 150 criminal record expungements requests for low-level offenders in Brunswick. However, Higgins said his agency and advocates found a path forward in a recent meeting. He said 105 record restrictions have already been processed by the DA’s office, which ensures pre-approved criminal records will no longer show up on standard Georgia background checks. The process of sealing the records in the court system will be undertaken by a private attorney, he said.
Do you have questions you want us to ask DA Higgins? Reach out at staff@thecurrentga.org.
One more thing: Update in $200M farmworker case
Two more alleged farmworker traffickers have signaled they intend to plead guilty this month as part of the sprawling federal case prosecuting forced immigrant labor in South Georgia.
In the last two weeks, Antonio Chavez Ramos and Gumara Canela, two of the 24-person “Blooming Onion” indictment from October 2022, have indicated in court filings they intend to plead guilty. Both were allegedly part of a scheme to put through fraudulent visa requests for illegal immigrants to enter the country and be employed as farmworkers, manage those undocumented workers and then exploit them on Georgia farms.
The case has ensnared former Georgia Department of Labor employees, included accusations of bribery and allegedly made traffickers more than $200 million in ill-gotten and laundered gains, according to court documents and news reports.
It’s not yet clear what specific charges they will plead to, but both Canela and Ramos were accused of supervising and managing the farmworkers during the scheme, according to the indictment. Canela allegedly “unlawfully held their identification documents to prevent the workers from leaving,” the indictment said.
Several defendants have pleaded guilty since the case started. Two former DOL employees, Brett Donovan Bussey and Jorge Gomez, and a relative of one of the employees, Maria Leticia Patricio, continue to fight the case.
Data dive: How Savannah measures crime
Crime is a part of life in Savannah. But just how bad is it? The Current breaks down police data about safety in Georgia’s first city.
Georgia Senate advances tax break for firearm safety devices as lawmakers push gun-related incentives
Bill would exempt safes and devices that temporarily disable firearms when not in use from state and local sales tax.
The Tide: Delays, some progress 8 months after Brunswick criminal record clinic
Since a Brunswick legal clinic started applications for 150 residents to clear their criminal records, half of their cases remain pending. Prosecutors say they are doing the best they can with the resources available.
Judge gave Glynn cop who slept with informants clean record
Former Glynn County Police drug investigator James Cassada got to end his probation six years early after a judge’s ruling in May. Now his record won’t show up in background checks.
Child labor in the US: an embarrassing past that Americans may think they’ve left behind
With numerous reports of child labor violations, many involving immigrants, occurring in the U.S., along with an uptick in state legislation rolling back the legal working age, it’s clear that Hine’s work is as relevant today as it was a century ago.
Lawmakers target Georgia labor chief for oversight after benefit snafus
Frustrated by complaints back home, state lawmakers have lined up behind an effort to place a new governor-appointed staffer in the state Department of Labor who would share authority with the state’s elected GOP labor commissioner.
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