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THE CHAMPION, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21 - 27, 2019 • PAGE 5
Mail theft being investigated by police
BY TAYLOR ROBINS
Taylor@dekalbchamp.com
Chamblee officials reported Nov. 13 that mail was stolen
from a residential leasing office Nov. 6.
At approximately 4:30 a.m. three unidentified suspects
allegedly broke into The Lofts at 5300's leasing office and
stole mail from three separate cluster mailboxes, according to
Chamblee officials. The suspects stole mail from The Loft’s
more than 200 residents and loaded the mail into a large
duffle bag, according to Chamblee officials.
The suspects were captured on video surveillance leaving
in a dark colored sedan, according to Chamblee officials.
Chamblee police are working to identify two males and
one female suspect. The investigation is ongoing.
Stone Mountain woman convicted
in murder-for-hire of husband
DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston has
announced a conviction by jury trial in a murder-for-hire
case against a Stone Mountain woman. Jurors returned a
guilty verdict Nov. 13 against 50-year-old Kecia Leann
Wright on charges of criminal attempt to commit murder
and aggravated assault for orchestrating the attempted
murder of her husband, Kentrick Lindo, 46.
The charges against Wright stem from a May 25, 2011,
shooting incident at the intersection of Rock Meadow Drive
and Rockbridge Road in Stone Mountain when bullets struck
Lindo in his left shoulder. According to the district attorney’s
office, after being shot, Lindo drove to his home and was
taken to a hospital after police were called to the home to
investigate a person shot call. Lindo survived his injuries, but
the shooter was not identified.
Wright and Lindo separated in 2013. In late 2014,
Lindo’s son and stepdaughter began disclosing details of
several attempts on Lindo’s life in an effort for Wright to
collect a million-dollar life insurance policy.
The investigation revealed that prior to the 2011
shooting, Wright asked her daughter’s friend to kill Lindo for
a fee. Lindo’s son told school officials that Wright had also
asked him to stab and shoot his father. Both children stated
that Wright had also attempted to give Lindo poison and
drugged food and had additional schemes to kill Lindo.
Lindo died prior to trial in 2016 of unrelated causes.
Following her conviction, Wright was sentenced to a
maximum term of 30 years in prison by DeKalb County
Superior Court Judge LaTisha Dear Jackson. The alleged
accomplice, who was accused of firing the shots into the
victim’s vehicle during the murder attempt, was indicted as a
co-defendant but acquitted at trial.
Elementary school playground burned
BY TAYLOR ROBINS
Taylor@dekalbchamp.com
Toney Elementary
School’s playground that
was recently updated has
been burned.
According to DeKalb
County School District,
DeKalb County Fire
Department responded
to the Toney Elementary
playground fire Nov .3. The
fire was extinguished and
the playground was left with
“extensive damage.”
In July, Toney
Elementary, located in
Decatur, was “crashed”
by volunteers, students,
parents, and stakeholders
as Georgia United Credit
Union (GUCU) and Georgia
United Foundation’s 2019
School Crashers program
made an estimated $100,000
in repairs and renovations to
the school.
Students of the school
started the 2019-2020
school year with new
carpet, flexible tables and
chairs for the media center,
paint on the interior and
exterior walls, a seating
area for visitors in the front
office, computer lab tables,
new classroom signage for
the hallways, an outdoor
classroom courtyard, and
a playground and garden
area—that includes picnic
tables, benches, an outdoor
whiteboard, a shade canopy,
raised planter beds, outdoor
murals, a bird sanctuary
area, a pollinator garden,
and landscaping, including
a walking patio.
Karen Dukes, a
Toney Elementary School
Remains of the recently built Toney Elementary School playground in Decatur. Photo
by Taylor Robins.
teacher who has been
with the school for 19
years, applied to GUCU’s
program after taking a
student for an outside walk
and realizing the property
needed beautification.
Dukes submitted the school
into the program to receive
an outdoor classroom
courtyard. However, after
GUCU officials visited
the school’s grounds,
Dukes was notified that the
school had won the School
Crashers grand prize of the
outdoor classroom courtyard
and a school makeover.
Dukes said when she
was notified that the school
had won the grand prize, she
was overwhelmed with tears
of joy. She said, “The kids
are going to be so excited.”
Volunteers and Toney
Elementary employees
spent the summer of 2019
renovating the school and
finished by the first day of
school Aug. 5.
“Toney Elementary
just put this beautiful
playground in, now it’s
burnt to cinders,” a DeKalb
County resident posted Nov.
10 to the Nextdoor website.
“This is just wrong.”
Nextdoor is a private
social network for more
than 205,000 neighborhoods
in the United States.
The fire is currently
under investigation by
the DeKalb County Fire
Department.
VACCINE Continued From Page 2
cold for children. Each year,
millions of children get sick with
seasonal flu; thousands of children
are hospitalized, and some children
die from flu. Children commonly
need medical care because of flu,
especially children younger than 5
years old.” Complications among
children may include pneumonia,
dehydration and worsening of long
term medical problems like heart
disease or asthma.
People with special health
conditions - People with asthma are
at high risk of developing serious flu
complications, even if their asthma
is mild or their symptoms are well-
controlled by medication. This is
because people with asthma have
swollen and sensitive airways, and
flu can cause further inflammation
of the airways and lungs. It also can
lead to pneumonia and other acute
respiratory diseases, according to the
CDC.
People with diabetes, even when
the condition is well-managed,
the public health institute states,
are at high risk of serious flu
complications, which can result in
hospitalization and sometimes even
death. In recent seasons, about 30
percent of adult flu hospitalizations
reported to CDC have had diabetes.
“Because they are at high risk
of serious flu-related complications
it is especially important that
people living with HIV get a flu
shot annually,” the CDC website
states. “Flu vaccination works much
better for people living with HIV
who are receiving antiretroviral
therapy (ART). Because flu vaccine
effectiveness is not 100 percent,
people living with HIV who get flu
symptoms, especially those with
low CD4 cell counts not receiving
ART should be treated with influenza
antiviral drugs right away.”
