– Thursday, May 23, 2024 –
Good morning. In this week’s public safety newsletter, we look at the election results of Coastal Georgia’s public safety races. Then, we report on an arrest made in Savannah’s mass shooting last weekend and federal prosecutors’ accusation of wire fraud against a former Glynn County employee.
Questions, comments or story ideas? Reach out to me at jake.shore@thecurrentga.org.
NEWS: ELECTIONS
Primary election finished. Now what?
Tuesday night marked the final chapter for some public safety elections in Coastal Georgia, while other races will start gearing up for tougher challenges in November.
First, on the completed races: Chris Middleton, a longtime public defender, succeeded over federal prosecutor Frank Pennington Tuesday night in the election for Superior Court judge in Chatham County. Outside his election party, Middleton told The Current he felt indebted to voters and like he “won the Super Bowl.” The election split Savannah and Chatham County’s political classes and brought more attention to the judicial post than in past elections.
Also on Tuesday, Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Keith Higgins won 69.34% of Republican primary voters while challenger John B. Johnson garnered 30.66%. The race highlighted long standing questions of ethics and integrity in the DA’s office. With no Democratic candidate qualified, Higgins will stand alone on the general ballot, ensuring his re-election as DA.
On the half-settled races: Tuesday’s primaries set up who will take on powerful incumbents and well-supported challengers. Incumbent Chatham County DA Shalena Cook Jones easily fended off a primary contender, Jenny Parker, by a 46-point margin. Cook Jones said the win speaks to voters’ resonance with her message of criminal justice reform and gives her the momentum for November, where she’ll face former prosecutor and Republican candidate Andre Pretorius.
In Camden County, former Camden County Sheriff’s Office Maj. Kevin Chaney succeeded over County Commissioner Trevor Readdick in the Republican primary for sheriff. Chaney won with 72% of votes to Readdick’s 28%. He will go on to face incumbent Sheriff Jim Proctor in a race dominated by issues of culture reform, violent incidents at the jail and transparency.
For the full gambit of races we covered on Tuesday night (and finished writing past all our bed times), check out our web page.
NEWS: PUBLIC SAFETY
Arrest in Savannah mass shooting
The Savannah Police Department said officers arrested a 20-year-old Savannah man accused of taking part in the Ellis Square mass shooting on Saturday that left 11 people hurt, 10 of which were from gunshot wounds.
On Tuesday, police charged William Anthony Mitchell with four counts of aggravated assault, four counts of possession of a firearm in commission of a felony, and one count of contempt of court, according to jail records. Detectives are still chasing other leads and persons of interest, the department said.
The mass shooting and two other homicides last weekend shook city officials and citizens as the city faced its worst weekend of gun violence since 2021, the last time such a mass shooting took place. At an impromptu press conference on Sunday, Chief Lenny Gunther said that shooting broke out close to midnight on Saturday after an argument between two women in the busy area of Ellis Square, where numerous bars are located. One person shot first, which caused others to return fire, he said.
“We had multiple individuals discharge their weapons to shoot at each other, which resulted in multiple people getting shot,” Gunther said.
The incident came as Mayor Van Johnson has been at odds with Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr over the city’s passage of legislation to make it illegal to leave guns in unlocked vehicles. Of 244 guns stolen from cars in Savannah in 2023, more than 80% were taken from unlocked vehicles, Gunther told city council members in February.
NEWS: COURTS
Feds go after county wire fraud
Federal prosecutors are accusing a former Glynn County Public Works supervisor of committing wire fraud, when he used employee purchasing cards to enrich himself.
William “Bill” Richards, a former supervisor in the department that maintains roads and other infrastructure, allegedly covered up the transactions as legitimate bills and stole $290,000 in taxpayer dollars, the police department said in September after they charged him.
But as of Wednesday, Richards now faces federal charges, in addition to state charges, for wiring the taxpayer funds to his personal bank accounts. The single count of federal wire fraud holds up to 20 years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines.
The discovery in September 2023 came shortly after the Public Works department received a new director, Danny Smith, who said he discovered the misappropriations. The Brunswick News reported that Richards allegedly conducted 200 fictitious transactions over an estimated 18-month period to steal the funds. Richards was originally hired in 2010.
Middleton wins Superior Court judge race in Chatham
The race between Chris Middleton and Frank Pennington split Chatham County voters in an unlikely hot political race.
Incumbent DA Cook Jones wins Chatham Democratic primary
DA Shalena Cook Jones bested her former top deputy prosecutor, Jenny Parker, by wide margin in Chatham County Democratic primary.
Rep. Carter objects to federal ‘propaganda’ regarding mining near the Okefenokee
U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter (R-St. Simons) scolded federal wildlife officials for voicing concerns about the effects of proposed mining near the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.
Incumbent Pinson defeats Barrow in state Supreme Court contest
If race was a test of abortion as a election draw, results show just how tumultuous the rest of the election year might yet prove, as the furious backlash against Barrow’s decision to make abortion rights the centerpiece of his campaign showed.
A call to Biden from the Gullah Geechee: Return part of our ancestral land
Black descendants of Harris Neck’s former landowners formed the Harris Neck Land Trust, which intends to ask President Joe Biden for an executive order this summer to return 500 acres of Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge — approximately 17% of the refuge’s total acreage — to the nonprofit organization.
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