CLASSIC CITY NEWS

Appling By Joe Johnson An Athens woman has been indicted on aggravated assault charges for injuring victims when she intentionally crashed her car into the Kroger on Alps Road three months ago. Lonneshia Shafaye Appling, 40, of Dudley Drive, was high on a combination of fentanyl and methamphetamine on the morning of December 16th when her car plowed into the supermarket, according to the 12-count indictment filed in Superior Court on Tuesday. The most seriously injured vic

Released by the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office On February 18, 2026, the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office arrested D’Evin Brown and Serina Johnson. GCSO Special Investigations Section (SIS) and Gwinnett Metro Task Force (GMTF) personnel assisted the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) with the execution of a search warrant at a Gwinnett County residence. During the search, approximately 1,450 grams of fentanyl were recovered,

By Joe Johnson Terrance Terrell White last year pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of oxycodone and was sentenced to 12 months on probation. The 46-year-old Pittard Road resident now is again suspected of being intoxicated on drugs when he struck and killed a man on an electric bicycle last Saturday night. According to police reports, White was driving a BMW sedan west on Olympic Drive when he struck the e-bike operated by 37-year-old Kul Chokhal of Barnett Shoals

By Joe Johnson A user of the deadly drug fentanyl owes her life to an Athens-Clarke County police officer. On the evening of February 7th police responded to a report of an unconscious drug overdose victim at QuikTrip on Lexington Road. Upon arrival officers found the 37-year-old woman on the floor of the restroom, not breathing and her lips turning blue. Beside her were burnt foil and a cut straw that the officers knew to be evidence of fentanyl use. Officer Benjamin Benedic

Released by the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office A cocaine overdose of a 4 year old child led our investigators to execute a search warrant on February 20th, 2026 in Jefferson. Sheena Dawn Shumake, 35, and Joshua Tyler Shumake, 33, were arrested and booked into the Jackson County Jail for Cruelty to Children First Degree. Thank you Georgia State Patrol, West Jackson Fire Department, Georgia Division of Family & Children Services, and Children's Healthcare of Atlanta for your a

By Joe Johnson Angus Stewart Moller, 61, of Double Bridges Crossing in Winterville, was arrested on the afternoon of February 16th after crashing his pickup truck into the BP gas station on Lexington Road, Police said that he appeared to be under the influence of drugs and that he failed drug impairment testing at the scene. In addition to his truck crashing into another vehicle at the gas station it struck the building, according to the police report. An officer stated in th

By Joe Johnson Carlos Terrell Wise, 32, was arrested at his home in a western Athens-Clarke County subdivision following an investigation by the Northeast Georgia Regional Drug Task Force. Court filings show that on February 4th, when executing a search warrant at his Stonehenge Way residence, officers found 521 grams of methamphetamine, a large amount of marijuana and a .380-caliber pistol. Wise was booked into the county jail on charges of trafficking methamphetamine, posse

By Joe Johnson A 30-year-old woman from Snellville checked into an Atlanta Highway motel room last Thursday evening and less than 48 hours later her lifeless body was found sprawled across the bed. She became the fourth person to apparently die from fentanyl use not even two full months into the new year, continuing the deadly trend of nearly three dozen such deaths in 2025. According to Athens-Clarke County Coroner Michael Eberhart, in 2025 there were 33 confirmed or suspec

By Joe Johnson Kelsey Alexis Coleburn, 44, of Little River, S.C., has pleaded guilty to possessing fentanyl while an inmate at the county jail in Athens, According to court records, jail personnel responded to Coleburn’s cell on December 22nd after she had passed out and they found that she had fentanyl in her bedding. She was subsequently charged with possession of a controlled substance and possession of a prohibited item by an inmate. In a plea agreement reached on Tuesd

By Joe Johnson A judge has denied bail to an Athens woman who was arrested after crashing her car into Kroger on Alps Road, injuring several employees and shoppers, Following a January 28th hearing in Superior Court, Judge H. Patrick denied the woman’s request for bail on the grounds that if released from jail she would pose a significant threat to the community and likely commit additional crimes. Authorities say that 41-year-old Lonneshia Appling was high on methamphetamine

ATLANTA – The Georgia Opioid Crisis Abatement Trust and Advantage Behavioral Health Systems will host a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new REACH mobile treatment program on Monday, February 9, 2026, at 1 p.m. at the Danielsville City Hall in Madison County.   In 2024, the Trust awarded Advantage with $780,000 to develop, launch and staff the REACH mobile clinic program. The program offers medication-assisted treatment, naloxone distribution, peer support, overdose prevention

By Joe Johnson A 22-year-old man apparently froze to deathTuesday night in a homeless encampment off Old Hull Road. Dequavious Ragsdale reportedly showed up at the camp a few days earlier needing somewhere to stay and one of the residents offered to share his tent. A family member reported that he had been staying with her until he left on Sunday. The man who allowed Ragsdale into his tent called 911 at 7:25 am Wednesday to report that his guest wasn’t breathing and hadn’t

By Joe Johnson Maurice Anthony Barnes, 44, of Chalfont Lane, was arrested January 14th on a charge of trafficking fentanyl. He had been the subject of an investigation during which he reportedly sold fentanyl on three different occasions to confidential sources who were being supervision by the Northeast Georgia Regional Drug Task Force. At the time of his arrest, Barnes reportedly had over 4 grams of the deadly drug in his possession. He is being held at the county jail pend

By Joe Johnson An Athens grand jury has charged an elderly Athens woman’s caregiver with stealing from and neglecting her. DeLorean Elise Strickland, 38, of Hull, was charged with exploitation and neglect of a victim over 65 years old and trafficking methamphetamine, according to the indictment filed Tuesday in Superior Court. The indictment stems from Strickland’s arrest in October for allegedly allowing the elderly woman to harm herself by not providing adequate supervision

By Joe Johnson Dextrell Tramell Calloway, 55, of Mitchell Bridge Road, has been indicted for allegedly trafficking cocaine that he into crack. He was charged with both drug trafficking and manufacturing in the indictment that was filed on Tuesday in Superior Court. The indictment stems from his arrest last year when search warrants were executed at his home and another location by the Northeast Georgia Regional Drug Task Force, which seized over two pounds of cocaine. Callow

By Joe Johnson Eddie Dewaine Curry Jr,, 37, of West Broad Street, was arrested on December 22nd after he crashed a stolen pickup truck into a trailer at Hallmark Estates Mobile Home Park. According to reports, police went to Hallmark when a license plate reading camera located the truck there, and when Curry tried to flee from an attempted traffic stop he bailed from the still-moving vehicle and it crashed into the trailer, damaging its front porch. Officers arrested Curry af

By Joe Johnson Kasaun Janalle Love, 33, of East Clayton Street, was arrested early the morning of December 20th after he fired a gun during a gathering in a home on the eastside of Athens. A man who tends bar downtown had invited Love and several others to an “after party” at his home on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway. Some of those people reportedly had bought cocaine from Love previously. At some point Love began demanding to know what happened to a plastic grocery bag

The Barrow County Sheriff’s Office today released the following (Winder, GA) – The Barrow County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Unit has concluded an undercover operation targeting illegal drug distribution in Barrow County. The investigation resulted in multiple felony arrests. As a result of the operation, the following individuals were arrested: Roderick LaShawn Billings, 37, of Winder, was charged with multiple felony offenses, including the sale and trafficking of cocaine an

By Joe Johnson More than a dozen Athens residents had already died from fentanyl poisoning as the final   month of 2025 began. That death toll has climbed even higher during December. “I have about 14 confirmed Fentanyl cases so far” this year,”’ Athens-Clarke County Coroner Michael Eberhart said on Monday, “I have other cases still pending (lab) results.” Among those pending cases is that of a 41-year-old woman who died in her home on Vine Street last Friday. She was found

By Joe Johnson Lonneshia Shafaye Appling was high on methamphetamine on the morning of December 16th when she crashed her car into the Alps Road Kroger, injuring several employees and shoppers. That’s according to arrest records filed in court by the Athens-Clarke County Police Department. The most seriously injured victim was a Kroger employee whose skull was fractured. Appling is a 40-year-old career criminal whose extensive rap sheet includes felony shoplifting conviction