Two men convicted in 2021 double murder, sentenced to life without parole

STAFF REPORT ::: A Spalding County jury on Thursday convicted Carmen Emilio Torres and Eric Cabrera Lopez in the murders of Carlos Benford and Joshua Wyatt. Beford and Wyatt’s bodies were discovered burning in a truck on April 13, 2021. Spalding County firefighters and deputies responded to a location on Jackson Road near the Butts […]

Griffin officials decline to comment on GPD sergeant involved in murder cover-up

SHEILA A. MATHEWS ::: City of Griffin officials have declined to respond to the most basic questions related to Griffin Police Department (GPD) Sgt. D’Marquivius “D.J.” King, even refusing to cite his current employment status. King, while assigned to the GPD Criminal Intelligence Division (CID), covered up the May 9, 2021, murder of Javarreis Reid […]

Additional criminal and constitutional violations alleged against Smart Web referred to GBI

SHEILA A. MATHEWS ::: Spalding County Sheriff Darrell Dix says his request for a GBI investigation of former Spalding County Marshal Smart Web includes further allegations of both criminal and constitutional violations in addition to the June 14 Maloy Circle incident in which Web shot and killed a dog. Dix said Spalding County Sheriff’s Office […]

Jury deliberates only 25 minutes before convicting Griffin teen in 2020 murder case

SHEILA A. MATHEWS ::: A Spalding County jury on Wednesday deliberated only 25 minutes before returning a guilty verdict in the murder trial of 18-year-old Malik Yarbrough. Yarbrough was convicted of the July 14, 2020, murder of 46-year-old Robert Donnel Brown. Yarbrough was only 16-years-old when he shot Brown in the back three times in […]

Two Henry County men identified as murder victims found in burning truck; suspect in custody

STAFF REPORT ::: An arrest has been made in a case in which two bodies were discovered in a pickup truck engulfed in flames. The Spalding County Fire Department (SCFD) and Spalding County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) on Tuesday afternoon responded to the call on Jackson Road near the Butts County line.Upon arrival, first responders located […]

Griffin murder part of extensive GBI Gang Task Force case

SHEILA A. MATHEWS ::: The July 24 murder of 26-year-old Jeffery Ryan Deluca, of Griffin, has been linked to Operation Caged Dove, an extensive criminal street gang operation conducted by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) Gang Task Force with the assistance of numerous local, state and federal law enforcement agencies. Operation Caged Dove was […]