CLASSIC CITY NEWS

By Joe Johnson Following a full week of testimony, the trial of the man accused of murdering University of Georgia law student Tara Baker came to a halt after the wife of the defense attorney was reportedly hospitalized. The prosecution rested its case on Wednesday and the wife of attorney Ahmad Crews was hospitalized as he was preparing to present his case in defense of Edrick Faust.

By Joe Johnson Authorities are asking for the public’s help with identifying a woman whose body was recently found outside of a business along Atlanta Highway. The middle-aged homeless woman is believed to have died from exposure during the recent extreme cold weather. She was found the morning of January 27th by an employee of American Pest Control in the rear parking lot of the business. There were no indications of alcohol or drug abuse, according to County Coroner Michael

Bet By Joe Johnson After a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps was recently found dead from suicide a neighbor provided an American flag to drape over his body as it was escorted from the home. The neighbor paid tribute to the 53-year-old decorated combat vet who reportedly had been experiencing health issues while also trying to cope with his wife’s recent death. He was found by his sister who went to check on him Sunday after learning that he hadn’t shown up for work. A vetera

By Joe Johnson Dominique Joseph, 18, of Simmons Street, was arrested Monday morning after she stabbed her boyfriend during an argument at their home. She allegedly stabbed 22-year-old Dante Clark in his shoulder from behind with a kitchen knife during an argument regarding their moving to another residence. The couple reportedly had been in a relationship for about a year and Clark moved from Atlanta about a month ago to live with Joseph and their child. During the argument,

By Albert DeSimone I understand that “sycophantic” isn’t a commonly used word. According to the Cambridge Dictionary, the word means “praising people in authority in a way that is not sincere, usually in order to get some advantage from them.” In essence, Sycophantic AI creates a yes-person that “echoes your opinions, confirms your biases, and even validates factual errors just to stay in your good graces.” (Gemini AI, and, yes, I see the irony.) In simple words, it’s a suck-

By Joe Johnson Phillip Todd Brooks, 46, of Lexington Road, was arrested early in the morning of January 31st after a domestic violence incident with his wife concerning the television. An argument began when Brooks insisted on watching TV while his wife was trying to sleep, When things turned physical, he head-butted the 41-year-old victim and struck her face with a hole puncher had significant visible injuries to her face. According to police, Brooks also tried physically p

Posted by the Athens-Clarke County Fire Department Yesterday around midday, units responded to a motor vehicle accident on Cleveland Road. The vehicle rolled over, knocking down a power pole, which started a grass fire, eventually catching the fuel tank on fire. Members from from Engine 22, Rescue 4, Engine 26 and Tanker 1 rendered first aid to the occupants, extinguished the car and brush fires, and assisted PD in blocking the roadway until crews could repair the power line

By Joe Johnson The victim of an alleged murder last year at an Athens apartment complex fell to his death while escaping from gang members who were trying to rob him, according a recent court filing, On the night of November 6th, members of the Sex Money Murder street gang were attempting to steal cash at gunpoint from Antonio Jewell at The View at NoDa apartment complex, according to an indictment filed last Tuesday in Athens-Clarke County Superior Court. The 22-year-old vi

Antonio Jewell By Joe Johnson The victim of an alleged murder last year at an Athens apartment complex fell to his death while escaping from gang members who were trying to rob him, according a recent court filing, On the night of November 6th, members of the Sex Money Murder street gang were attempting to steal cash at gunpoint from Antonio Jewell at The View at NoDa apartment complex, according to an indictment filed last Tuesday in Athens-Clarke County Superior Court. The

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

By Erik Hogan Snow Falls. Silent, white, inevitable. Words fall, piling into drifts of letters on a page. Snow on the page. Landing so softly on leaves, dead already. Already fallen. Accumulating drafts of white. The sound of falling. Not silent. Gritty hissing of trees. Snow striking words, settling on thoughts. Piling. Fur by the window watches with teeth birds under drifts of white, dwelling on endings. All silent, save for the falling. Cold absence weighs down boug

By Joe Johnson When police recently responded to a report of cars being broken into at a predominantly Hispanic apartment complex they learned that the same suspects had also robbed someone at gunpoint. The person who called police about the car break-ins was not a victim, but a manager at Kathwood Townhouse Apartments, He was also the person who told police about previous crimes in the complex that included the armed robbery. He “explained that the victims did not report any

Released by the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office (Gwinnett County, Ga., February 6, 2026 )  – On January 9, 2026, the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office Fugitive Unit was alerted by the Gwinnett County Police Department that a group of suspects were impersonating Sheriff’s Office deputies to commit armed robberies.  The Fugitive Unit located Samuel Baxter after surveillance, and with assistance from the Georgia State Patrol, conducted a traffic stop after he exited a residence

Kyron Zarco’-Smith Released today by the Georgia Attorney General’ Office ATHENS, GA – Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr today announced that Desmontrez Mathis, (aka “Ten”), 24, of Athens, has been sentenced to life with the possibility of parole, plus 30 years in prison, followed by 10 years of strict probation, for the murder of three-year-old Kyron Santino Zarco Smith. A Western Judicial Circuit Superior Court Judge sentenced the defendant on Feb. 6, 2026. ORIGINAL RELEA

By Joe Johnson Damond Ladean Hewell, 44, of Hull, was arrested Wednesday afternoon when he was found outside an Athens liquor store. Officer Samuel Calderon reports that he was patrolling the high-crime area of Danielsville and Ila roads at about 4:45 pm when he noticed a car of interest parked at Norwood Package Store. The officer went to speak with the driver because of his criminal history, then saw that Hewell was in the back seat. When the man voluntarily disclosed that

By Joe Johnson A month before his trial began, Edrick Faust was offered a deal of life imprisonment with the possibility of parole if he would plead guilty to murdering University of Georgia law student Tara Baker. The proposed plea deal was made in a January 12th letter to Faust’s defense attorney from Western Judicial Circuit District Attorney Kalki Yalamanchili. The offer was obviously rejected, as the trial got underway this week in the Athens-Clarke County Courthouse. I

The following was released by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Jackson County, GA (February 4, 2026) - At the request of the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, GBI agents are investigating a death in Jackson County. On Wednesday, February 4, 2026, at about 11:15 a.m., the Jefferson Police Department responded to a location off of Fields Road in Jackson County after several citizens were searching near where a crash occurred on Sunday, February 1, 2026. On Wednesday, February

By Joe Johnson Asia Shantera Smith, 31, of Old Hull Road, was arrested Wednesday night by a police officer who stopped her car after seeing it swerve into the bike lane on Barnett Shoals Road, Officer Christopher Lukas said in his report that he determined that the woman had been distracted while driving because she was eating. “I observed Ms. Smith to have sauce on her fingers along with the strong odor of food,” he stated. The officer noted that when he asked Smith for her

Kyron Zarco Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr’s office has released the following: ATHENS, GA – Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr today announced that Desmontrez Mathis, Jayden Brown, and Dakious Echols have been convicted for the murder of three-year-old Kyron Santino Zarco Smith, who was shot and killed in a drive-by in Athens on March 8, 2024. Smith was watching tv on his couch at Hallmark Mobile Home Park when he sustained a fatal gunshot wound to the chest. A nine-ye

By Joe Johnson A 59-year-old homeless man was arrested on January 29th after he assaulted a woman as she drove him to the hospital. The victim told police that she was driving Will Ingram from Tallassee Road to St. Mary’s on Baxter Street when he attacked her from the back seat. She said that he began by berating and spitting on her, then punched her in the head and struck her with a book. Ingram stopped the assault when they arrived at the hospital. Police located him on Al