'Defendant won't be tried as adult' and more news from the Chattanooga region

Defendant won't be tried as adult

ATLANTA - A young man who was 15 when he was charged with strangling his grandmother in Whitfield County, Ga., in September 2010 no longer can be prosecuted as an adult, the Georgia Supreme Court found in a unanimous ruling issued Monday.

Joshua Jaran Johnson was arrested in October 2010 and charged as an adult with murder in the death of Lurrlean Frazier, records show.

A Whitfield County trial court had approved the transfer of Johnson's case to Juvenile Court after his attorney appealed that state statute supports the transfer if a grand jury does not return a true bill in the case within a certain time.

The state Supreme Court unanimously upheld the state's appeal of the lower court's ruling, noting the state "does not have the right to appeal decisions in criminal cases unless there is a specific statutory provision granting the right." Under 2006 law, the state is not specifically authorized to appeal transfer orders, the court said.


Tornado victims' shelter relocated

CALHOUN, Ga. - The Red Cross, which is operating shelters for Northwest Georgia tornado victims in Gordon and Bartow counties, on Monday relocated the Gordon County shelter to the Sonoraville Recreation Complex at 7494 Fairmount Highway in Calhoun.

Red Cross shelters offer volunteer support and cots, blankets, meals, personal hygiene items and health services, according to a news release. Four emergency response vehicles are providing snacks, water, meals, blankets and cleanup supplies in the area, the release states.

The Bartow County shelter is at the Manning Mill Youth Facility, 163-B Manning Mill Road NW, in Adairsville.


Man who killed 2, then himself ID'd

ALCOA, Tenn. - Police in Alcoa have identified the man they believe fatally shot two people and then killed himself.

The Knoxville News Sentinel reported Monday that 47-year-old Amos Turbyfill was found dead in a house Sunday night, along with his girlfriend and a teenage boy.

Police Capt. Dale Boring said the names of the woman and the boy were being withheld.


Clerk spanks boy in store, arrested

WRIGHTSVILLE, Ga. - An 8-year-old boy spanked by a store clerk in Wrightsville says he was hit so many times with a belt that it felt like he was being stuck with five needles.

Logan Ivey told WMAZ-TV that a store clerk called him a demon, and he said, "I'll show you a demon" and threw a cookie at her. He said the clerk took him behind a counter and hit him repeatedly with a belt, while he screamed for his mother.

Police Chief Paul Sterling said officers arrested the clerk Thursday after a video showed her hitting the boy with a belt about 25 times.

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