Lowndes Co. organization provides support system to law enforcement wives
Lowndes Co. organization provides support system to law enforcement wives By Jennifer Morejon | May 10, 2021 at 3:56 PM EDT - Updated May 10 at 8:19 PM
VALDOSTA, Ga. (WALB) - Police Week kicked off in Lowndes County with a prayer over law enforcement serving now, and for families of fallen officers.
The president of a Lowndes County organization that supports law enforcement wives and families said it’s not an easy lifestyle.
“It’s a stressful time as a wife and a mother to think, ‘okay when my husband puts on his uniform, and walks out that door, is he coming back’ and when they come back, what have they dealt with,” said Amanda O’Steen, president of Blue Line Ladies.
Three arrested in murder of missing Columbus man
By Dispatch Staff Report 6 hours ago
Lowndes County investigators have arrested three people in what they believe to be the murder of a man missing since last summer.
Joseph Lane Purcell, 29, and Allan Michael Farley, 27, have both been charged with murder for the death of Columbus resident James Ryan Taylor, according to a Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office press release. Deputies also arrested Deborah Johnston, 55, who has been charged with accessory after the fact.
Taylor’s family last saw him July 14, 2020, according to Taylor’s mother, Laura Taylor. He was reported missing to Columbus Police Department, which has been searching for him primarily on The Island, where he was last seen at the Plaza Hotel the same night. His disappearance sparked local searches and prompted the family to offer a $5,000 reward for information on his whereabouts in February.
Man wanted after fatal shooting outside of a Valdosta gentlemanâs club
Man wanted after fatal shooting outside of a gentlemanâs club in Valdosta By Jennifer Morejon | April 19, 2021 at 10:09 PM EDT - Updated April 19 at 10:09 PM
VALDOSTA, Ga. (WALB) - Lowndes County deputies are looking for a man they claim shot and killed another man after an argument outside of a gentlemenâs club.
Deputies are searching for Justin Leshawn Williams. There is no current photo of Williams.
Williams is accused of shooting Leon Thomas Jr.
The call came in around 2:30 Saturday morning.
Lowndes County Sheriff Ashley Paulk said it started at Peaches on Bemiss Road, then spilled over into the parking lot of Valdosta Carpet, across the street, where the shooting happened.
City, county law enforcement sued for 2020 fatal shooting
The father of a man killed in an officer-involved shooting last year has filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Columbus, Lowndes County, Sheriff Eddie Hawkins and multiple officers from Columbus Police Department and Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office.
Austin Hines
Austin Hines, 19, was fatally shot by area law enforcement officers on April 1, 2020, following a police chase involving city officers and county deputies that ended when Hines crashed his vehicle near the railroad tracks near Waterworks Road and Seventh Avenue North. Last month his father, Jason Hines of Lowndes County, filed the complaint in federal court in Aberdeen, though his attorney, Daniel Waide of Hattiesburg, said the suit initially began in Lowndes County Circuit Court last year.
Brooks: City needs stronger blight removal program, more data-driven policing Lowndes County District 5 Supervisor Leroy Brooks speaks to Columbus Rotary Club Tuesday at Lion Hills Center. He spoke about the progress of the city’s Crime Prevention Task Force, which he chairs. Zack Plair/Dispatch Staff
Trip Hairston, president of the Lowndes County Board of Supervisors, was skeptical of Columbus’ effort to form a Crime Prevention Task Force when he first read about it in the newspaper.
Trip Hairston
“To be honest, the first thing I did was roll my eyes,” Hairston told his fellow Columbus Rotarians Tuesday at Lion Hills Center. “It’s an election year. Of course they’re going to have a crime prevention task force.”