Atlanta, GA
Metro Atlanta man attempted to rob 17-year-old victim. Now he’s paralyzed, headed to jail for life
A Buford man who attempted to rob a then teenager in 2021 will spend the rest of his life in prison.
On Thursday, a Gwinnett County jury found Jaiden Williams, 20, guilty of two counts of felony murder, aggravated assault, criminal attempt to commit a felony and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony for the July 26, 2021, shooting death of 17-year-old Orbit Pough III.
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Williams, who was 17 in 2021, told Pough that he wanted to buy a TCH vape cartridge, but evidence showed Williams did not have any money on him when he met with Pough at the Kroger store parking lot in Grayson.
He did however have a gun on him, according to investigators.
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During the trial, Williams insisted that he and Pough were friends, but according to prosecutors, evidence showed the two were strangers to one another.
Williams told police on the night he shot Pough, he was riding in the car with him on the way to a drug deal. Williams said to investigators he shot Pough when he (Pough) started to look suspicious.
As their investigation progressed, police learned Pough died from a gunshot wound in his side and barrel contact marks from a shooting that occurred at close range.
Pough also had a weapon on him, but did not pull it until after Williams shot him. Pough died, however, he was also able to shoot Williams, striking him in the neck, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down.
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“The victim’s family suffered a tragic loss,” District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gatson said. “The defendant was only 17 years old when he took the victim’s life. This sentence will be a long and hard lesson for him to learn from. But we simply cannot tolerate our young people following such violent paths.”
Williams was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole, plus five years on probation.
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Atlanta, GA
Atlanta man killed in SE Georgia shooting, GBI investigating
TOOMBS COUNTY, Ga. – A 36-year-old Atlanta man was killed in a Fourth of July shooting in southeast Georgia, and the investigation has been turned over to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
What we know:
According to the GBI, Vidalia police officers responded around 3:13 a.m. Saturday to a report of shots fired in the 500 block of East Jenkins Street in Vidalia. When officers arrived, they found Rashad Lamar Lumpkin, of Atlanta, lying in the roadway with multiple gunshot wounds.
Lumpkin was taken by EMS to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The Vidalia Police Department requested the GBI investigate the shooting. Authorities said the investigation remains active and ongoing.
What you can do:
Anyone with information is asked to contact the GBI Regional Investigative Office in Eastman at 478-374-6988 or the Vidalia Police Department at 912-537-4123. Anonymous tips can also be submitted by calling 1-800-597-TIPS (8477), online through the GBI’s tip portal or by using the See Something, Send Something mobile app.
Once the investigation is complete, the case will be turned over to the Middle Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office for review.
Atlanta, GA
Ben’s Friends meetings help Atlanta food and beverage workers struggling with addiction
A metro Atlanta man is helping his fellow food and beverage workers struggling with addiction and alcoholism by holding weekly meetings that foster support.
“I’ve been cooking for 11 years. I started when I was a teenager. I’ve been with the company ever since,” said Jonah Jacobson, a sous chef at Pricci in Buckhead.
Jacobson said he began to experience repercussions while in active addiction five years ago.
“Things got bad enough to the point where I was fired from my first job,” he said.
Jacobson said once he started using alcohol and drugs, he could not stop.
“Where everybody else would call it a night after 1, 2 and go home like a normal person, I realized I did not have that luxury. I was not like everybody else,” said Jacobson.’
He helps lead the local chapter of Ben’s Friends, a national organization that organizes meetings for people struggling with addiction and alcoholism.
“We would always talk about another restaurant person who was either destroying their lives or, unfortunately, had just taken their lives due to alcohol and drugs. At one point, we just said enough is enough,” said Ben’s Friends co-founder Mickey Bakst.
Bakst has been sober for 43 years. He said the food and beverage industry fosters an environment in which alcohol and drugs are common and makes it easy for workers to fall into active addiction.
Adam Mauk with Edge Treatment Center in Roswell said programs like Ben’s Friends are often more successful after a person completes an initial inpatient or outpatient treatment plan. But he said people often reason they cannot afford to take the time off from work to complete initial treatment.
“It’s been proven time and time again that if you put anything ahead of your sobriety or ahead of trying to get clean or sober, then you’re going to lose that too,” said Mauk.
Jacobson has now been sober for five years.
“It (recovery) gave me a new outlook on life and gave me a sense of belonging that I was looking for, partially in a kitchen, partially outside of my life,” said Jacobson.
Ben’s Friends has more than 40 chapters across the country, offering free peer support to people working in the food and beverage industry.
Jacobson encourages anyone to attend a meeting on Mondays at 11 a.m. at Pricci, located on Pharr Road.
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