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The ADVANCE, August 30, 2023/Page 2A
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Photo by Deborah Clark
Photo by Makaylee Randolph
2023 REACH CHAIRMAN - Lassester Tractor Company Store Manager and Hopkins Farm
Owner Chris Hopkins has been selected to chair the Greater Vidalia Chamber's annual
REACH program, which begins on September 12 and runs several weeks throughout
the Fall. L to R: Greater Vidalia Chamber Director of Operations Amber O'Connor, Ex
ecutive Vice President Debbie Evans, Chris Hopkins, Director of Member Services Dana
Brown.
GREETING FAMILY - A motion filed early in his court case allows murder suspect Damion
Ferguson to enter the courtroom in street clothes and unrestrained, and to also interact
briefly with family and friends inside the courtroom.
Chris Hopkins to Chair
Chamber’s REACH Program
Death
continued from page 1A
Ferguson was arraigned last
Friday under a new indict
ment filed by the August
2023 term of the Wheeler
County Grand Jury which
added an additional count
of felony murder based on
the possession of a firearm
by a convicted felon. The
new count was combined
with the original counts,
bringing the total number
of counts to seven.
The counts against Fer
guson are malice murder,
aggravated assault on a po
lice officer, felony murder
(two counts), possession
of a firearm by a convicted
felon, bias-motivated intim
idation of first responders,
and possession of a firearm
during the commission of a
felony.
Ferguson, who has
been incarcerated outside
of the area since his ar
rest on October 10, 2021,
entered the courtroom in
street clothes and without
restraints due to a motion
filed and granted earlier in
the case which affords him
those privileges, according
to Oconee Judicial Circuit
District Attorney Timothy
Vaughn, who is prosecut
ing the case for the state.
Ferguson was also allowed
via the motion to greet and
embrace friends and family
members who attended the
proceedings.
Ferguson was repre
sented by Jerilyn Bell and
Ali Rad of Capital Defend
ers, and Catherine S. Ber
nard and Jordan Johnson of
Bernard and Johnson LLC.
Wheeler County Superior
Court Judge Howard C.
Kaufold, Jr. presided.
Vaughn said he does
not expect that the case will
come to trial for a minimum
of two years, owing in part
to the heavy case load being
experienced in the circuit.
Vaughn said 51 motions in
the case have been filed so
far and more are expected.
Action on these hearings
will be handled in segments
in future hearings, Vaughn
said.
Harrison, 26, was
working his first shift as a
part-time officer with the
Alamo Police department
when he was shot and killed
in the parking lot outside of
the police station about 1
a.m. on Saturday, October
9, said Natalie Ammons
of the Georgia Bureau of
Investigation (GBI). Am
mons spoke at a news con
ference at the Wheeler
County Courthouse where
a command center was
established by investigat
ing authorities during the
search for the single suspect
in the shooting.
Ferguson was appre
hended on October 10
following a manhunt in
the Wheeler County area
which lasted overnight.
He was taken into custody
without incident at his resi
dence by members of the
Georgia SWAT team and
the U.S. Marshal’s Service,
Southeastern Regional Fu
gitive Task Force.
In a press conference
following Ferguson’s cap
ture, GBI Special Agent
Lindsey Wilkes of Eastman
said the shooting followed
a Friday night incident in
which Harrison apprehend
ed a man who was known
to be an associate of Fergu
son’s.
Ferguson has had pre
vious encounters with the
law. He spent more than
seven years in prison after
being convicted of charges
including theft by taking
and aggravated assault on a
police officer in an incident
in 1998. He was released
from the Coffee County
Correctional Facility in
August 2006, Georgia De
partment of Corrections
records show.
In 2020, Ferguson was
arrested and charged with
felony arson in the first
degree following a fire on
February 5, 2020, which
displaced a mother and her
children. He was booked
into the Wheeler County
Jail on February 12, 2020,
after an investigation by the
state fire marshal, Wheeler
County EMA/Fire, and the
Wheeler County Sheriff’s
Office. He was indicted for
this crime in 2021 and that
case remains open
Most recently, Fergu
son was indicted by the
August 2023 term of the
Wheeler County Grand
Jury in a stalking offense
which occurred on October
5, 2021. The three counts
against him included aggra
vated stalking, and criminal
damage to property in the
first and second degrees.
Ferguson is accused of
violating a preliminary in
junction by confronting a
woman with the purpose
of harassing and intimidat
ing her, and is also accused
of damaging her vehicle by
slashing the tires and ren
dering it unsafe to drive,
and using a sharp object to
scratch the side of the ve
hicle.
Courtesy of the
Greater Vidalia Chamber
The Greater Vidalia
Chamber is preparing to
launch its annual REACH
program, and has an
nounced that Chris Hop
kins will chair the program.
“As part of the regional
business community, I be
lieve in the mission of the
Greater Vidalia Chamber
and the avenues which
they seek to grow not only
our regional business envi
ronment but also each indi
vidual business,” says Chris
Hopkins, Store Manager of
Lasseter Tractor Compa
ny, and owner of Hopkins
Farm.
Hopkins generously
gives of his time and tal
ents to many community
and state organizations,
including currently serv
ing as President of the
Southeastern Technical
College Board of Directors,
President of the Toombs
County Farm Bureau, and
as a board member on the
Georgia Cotton Commis
sion. He has served on the
Greater Vidalia Cham
ber and Toombs County
Development Authority
boards, and as a Supervisor
of the Ohoopee River Soil
and Water Conservation
District.
The REACH program
is held within the fall of
each year, and works to
provide businesses, both
large and small, with op
portunities to reach di
versified customer groups
and grow their businesses.
Businesses who are a mem
ber of the Chamber will
see a return on their invest
ment and will be able to de
termine which options best
suit their business needs.
In explaining the
REACH program, Cham
ber Executive Vice Presi
dent Debbie Evans said,
“Through this endeavor,
businesses will find in
creased opportunities
to gain exposure among
Chamber membership and
stakeholders. Addition
ally, they will experience
a greater return on invest
ment by securing higher
profile visibility in the com
munity through Chamber
programs and initiatives.”
REACH volunteers
will be contacting local
business leaders about
marketing opportunities
that best match their needs
in the coming weeks, which
begins on September 12.
“It’s important to un
derstand the mission of
businesses and their ac
tions to meet their target
markets,” Chamber Board
Chairman Mike Hagan
remarked. “We hope that
all businesses - especially
smaller businesses - will
see REACH as a way to get
involved in the chamber
programs with which they
feel most connected.”
“We look forward to
working together for the
betterment of our local
business community,” add
ed Hopkins.
S IADO KU So,u,,on • page 9A
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