May Term Grand Jury returns 26 true bills of indictment, child abuse, theft by taking at forefront

Published 8:43 pm Friday, August 14, 2015

The May Term Grand Jury for Decatur County returned 26 true bills of indictment, four No Bills of Indictment and four continued cases, with cases ranging from Child Molestation to Homicide by Vehicle.

Two cases this term involved child abuse.

Erik Randall Johnson was charged with one count of Child Molestation and one count of Aggravated Sexual Battery for engaging in sexual activity with a child under 16 years old sometime between Jan. 1 and Jan. 31.

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“This one stemmed from (Johnson’s) relationship with the child,” South Georgia Judicial Circuit District Attorney Joseph Mulholland said. “It was a horrific act and we are going to prosecute him fully to that charge.”

The second case involving children saw Dmarco Dontray Murphy being charged with Aggravated Assault and Cruelty to Children. Murphy grabbed a 6-month-old child and violently shook him sometime between June 19 and June 23. The child suffered internal bleeding in the frontal region of his head behind his eye.

Mulholland noted that luckily the child looked like he would not develop any permanent symptoms.

John Wesley Goodman was charged with Homicide by Vehicle in the First Degree for causing the death of Bonifacio Bautista while driving under the influence of marijuana on Nov. 26, 2014. Goodman was also charged for Driving Under the Influence of Marijuana, Reckless Driving and Driving on the Wrong Side of the Road.

A former public officer at the Decatur County Correctional Institute was charged for having sexual relations with an inmate. Between Jan. 1, 2012, and Feb. 28, 2012, Glen Gerald Anderson engaged in sexual intercourse with Donisha Smith while Smith was in custody.

Another case involved the theft of shelled corn from Flint River Mills, Inc. On three separate occasions, employee Tony Lamar Williams stole the corn from the company. On those same three occasions, Williams was joined by Willie Clarence Mosely and Patrick O’Neal Witcher, who stole a combined $14,801 worth of shelled corn. Williams was charged with three counts of Theft by Taking. Mosely and Witcher were also charged with three counts of Theft by Taking.

“They had a pretty complicated scheme they were using,” Mulholland said. “A theft like this can really hurt. We’re trying to develop industry here, and when you have crimes like this, businesses that are struggling are doing even worse.”