Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 6A
BARROW JOURNAL
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2011
Public Safety
reports on crimes, wrecks, fires & courts
SUPERIOR COURT
Grand jury indicts suspected wife-killer Jim Lynn
A Barrow County grand
jury indicted Winder resi
dent James Morris “Jim”
Lynn, 43, with the murder
of his late wife on Monday.
Lynn has also been indict
ed on a felony charge of
aggravated assault and a
misdemeanor charge of
obstruction JAMES “JIM” LYNN
According to the indict
ment, Lynn admitted to killing the
to formally charge 56
suspects for the follow
ing alleged crimes in 49
indictments last week.
The Oct. 24 grand jury
was comprised of 19
jurors, which reviewed
evidence in each of the
cases and determined
there is at least probable
cause that the crime was
mother of his four children Tonya Faye
Rosyter Lynn, 38, on Friday, July 29.
The admittance came two days after
Tonya Lynn was reported missing by
her family members.
The state is charging that Lynn killed
his wife by hitting her in the head with
a baseball bat sometime between 9 p.m.
on July 26 and 5 a.m. July 27.
On July 31, local authorities released
that a body found July 29 in a well off
Etheridge Road in Auburn was the body
of the missing mother-of-four.
The indictment names 60 witness
es, including officers with the Winder
Police Department, the Barrow County
Sheriff’s Office, the Georgia Bureau of
Investigations, neighbors of the Lynns
and family members of both James and
Tonya Lynn.
If convicted, Lynn faces life without
parole, according to District Attorney
Brad Smith.
Lynn is currently being held in the
Athens-Clarke County jail.
A Barrow County grand jury deter
mined there was sufficient evidence
committed and that the people indicted
committed it so that person might be
brought to trial.
Indicted were:
•Chao Yang, three counts aggravated
assault, aggravated stalking, terroristic
threats, criminal damage to property
second degree;
•Tina Celestine Wallace, James
Roberto Wallace, theft by conversion;
•Dwayne Troup, false imprisonment,
battery family violence, disorderly con
duct;
•Jonathon Trotter, burglary;
•Charles Edward Swafford, two counts
aggravated battery, false imprisonment,
battery, simple battery;
•Preston Andrew Steward, four counts
criminal damage to property, three
counts criminal trespass;
•Reynaldo C. Mendoza, criminal
attempt to entice a child for indecent
purposes, giving false name to law
enforcement officer;
•Sridhar Marta, four counts electronic
child exploitation, criminal attempt to
entice a child for indecent purposes;
•Jimmy Ross, aggravated assault fam
ily violence, cruelty to children in the
first degree, battery family violence,
simple battery family violence;
•Isaac Togba Roberts, four counts
obstruction, speeding;
•Tommie Riden, terroristic threats and
acts, two counts battery;
•Phoeun Phal, possession of mari
juana with intent to distribute, posses
sion of marijuana, possession of firearm
during the commission of a crime, theft
by receiving stolen property;
•Daniel Edward Patterson, felony
theft by taking, possession of tools for
commission of crime, criminal damage
to property second degree, two counts
criminal trespass, driving while license
suspended;
•Donald Todd Orr, terroristic threats
and acts;
•Kristie Musani, terroristic threats
and acts;
•Lawrence Arthur Moore, rape, two
counts aggravated assault family vio
lence, battery family violence;
•Susan Moon, criminal damage to
property in the second degree, criminal
trespass;
•Adan Barre Mohamed, two counts
terroristic threats, criminal trespass,
simple battery;
•April Poore, Eric Rockmore, Misty
Milligan, possession of methamphet-
amine with intent to distribute, posses
sion of methamphetamine, possession
of marijuana, possession of drug related
objects, failure to maintain lane, posses
sion of firearm by convicted felon;
See Murder of Tonya Lynn on page 7A
Orr indicted a second time I Man gets 25 years for rape
A Barrow County grand jury
on Oct. 24 indicted former fire
lieutenant Donald Todd Orr for
allegedly telling his estranged
wife in a July 30 phone call that
he wished he had blown off her
head last Christmas.
A total of 13 prosecution wit
nesses testified against Orr. The
witness list included his wife
Theresa Orr and all three of
their daughters.
The indictment accuses Todd
Orr of making a terroristic threat
against his wife by threatening
to “commit a crime of murder”
with the purpose of terrorizing
her.
A grand jury in January indict
ed Orr in connection with a
Christmas Day 2010 accidental
shooting in the family’s Winder
home, but he was allowed to
plead to misdemeanor counts of
reckless conduct and received
24 months probation. ,The pro
bation was revoked following
the alleged phone threat, and
he is incarcerated in the Barrow
County Detention Center.
Since his original convictions
were for misdemeanors, Barrow
County Superior Court Judge
Currie Mingledorff ordered him
to serve his nearly two years
of remaining probation in the
county jail.
However, if Orr is convicted
of the new felony, he could face
transfer to a state prison. An
indictment does not mean that
a person has been convicted of
a crime.
District Attorney Brad Smith
said Orr would be arraigned in
November.
A Barrow County Superior
Court jury sentenced a man to
25 years confinement for the
Nov. 24, 2009 rape of a Winder
woman.
Winder-resident Donterio
Butler, 20, has been sentenced
to serve the time consecutive to
the seven years imprisonment
he is currently serving from a
Nov. 24. 2008 robbery when he
was 17 years old.
Butler will serve 25 years in
confinement without possibility
for parole. He is also sentenced
to life on probation, as well as a
life sentence of registering as a
sex offender.
Barrow County assistant dis
trict attorneys Patricia Brooks
and Anna Bolden prosecuted
Butler’s case. According to
Brooks, the jury deliberated just
under three hours before voting
Friday.
Barrow County Superior
Court Judge David Motes pre
sided over the case.
Codefendants in the 2009
rape incident included Carlos
Moon, who pleaded guilty to
a rape charge on June 24, and
Ryan Jackson, who is still await
ing a hearing.
WINDER POLICE
Road raged man threatens
to kill entire family with knife
A Jackson County man was
arrested Wednesday for alleg
edly putting a knife to the
throat of another driver and
threatening to stab a family to
death at a Winder intersection
Oct. 9.
The family escaped safely
and reported the incident, but
the perpetrator drove away
from the scene. Authorities
eventually arrested Joseph
Brandon Smallwood, 33,
of 143 Russ Ramsey Road,
Maysville.
He is charged with four
counts of aggravated assault,
four counts of terroristic
threats and acts and one count
of cruelty to children follow
ing the Oct. 9 road rage inci
dent.
A Winder Police
Department incident report
states that an officer met with
the four victims in an Ingles
parking lot, where 46-year-
old Winder resident William
Brendle told police they were
in a black truck traveling on
Gainesville Highway where
it merges with Jefferson
Highway when a man driving
a red Honda Accord flipped
his middle finger off in their
direction.
Brendle told police he
pulled over to the side of the
road to allow the driver of
the red car to pass. However,
instead of passing, the irate
driver stopped his car and
yelled about being cut off.
Then the man allegedly
took a knife from his pocket,
opened it, and put it inside
of the truck, insisting he
was going to kill everyone,
according to the report.
Brendle said he drove away,
but Smallwood followed in
the red Honda. When he saw
Smallwood turn around in a
gas station, Brendle turned
around to get the license plate
of the red Honda. At that
point, he saw the driver emit
profanity and drive out of
the parking lot onto Jefferson
Highway at a high rate of
speed.
One of the victims was a
juvenile. An officer wrote in
the report that he noticed the
child appeared to look fright
ened through the window of
the truck while he was mak
ing the report.
City of Winder officers ran
the tag provided by Brendle,
which registered the vehicle
back to Smallwood, along
with a picture. The family
identified Smallwood’s pic
ture as the white man in the
red Honda.
A lookout for the vehicle
was given to the Barrow
County Sheriff’s Office
and the Jackson County
Sheriff’s Office. Apparently,
the sheriffs office advised
Smallwood had a criminal
history in Barrow County.
WINDER ARRESTS
The following people also
are or were being held at
the Barrow County Detention
Center last week. Listed
below are their names, ages,
addresses and the charges for
their arrests by the Winder
Police Department.
An arrest occurs when an
officer has probable cause
to believe that a crime has
been committed or if a person
commits a crime in an offi
cer’s presence. An arrest is
not a conviction of guilt.
See Road Rage on page 7A
November 6 & 13, 2011
1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
No Appointment Needed!
LOCATION: Tractor Supply Company
10 Plaza Drive, Winder, GA
4-6 Poses on CD: $20
PICK CP Your CD:
Nov. 13: @ Tractor Supply for Nov. 6 photos: 2 pm to 5 pm
Nov 22: @ Winder Corners Animal Clinic for Nov 13 photos
9 am to 1:00 pm, or 2:30 pm to 6:00 pm
All proceeds go to Pup & Cat Co., a Barrow-based animal rescue organization.
4*iVjYT|rj\G
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presents
TLC5K
Run, Walk or Ride your way
through the streets of Auburn
all for Tonya Lynn’s Children
Last July, we all heard the tragic story of how Tonya Royster
Lynn lost her life. She leaves behind 4 beautiful children who
are attempting to adjust to life without parents. We as a
community can make a difference. All the proceeds from this
race will go to the children of Tonya Lynn. We hope to meet the
needs of this family from counseling to college. You can Run,
Walk or Ride in the TLC race. Show up, do your part, and let’s
overwhelm them with a strong sense of community and family.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Auburn, Georgia
10K Bike Start - 3:00 p.m.
5K Start - 3:30 p.m.
1 mile Fun Run - 4:30 p.m.
A
Start/Finish Line:
Registration:
Awards:
Three Ways to Register:
K—
For more information:
Downtown Auburn
$20 before October 22
$22 Before October 31
$25 from November 1 until race day
$10 Fun Run
(all registrants before Nov. 1 guaranteed a t-shirt)
Trophies for 1st place (Male & Female)
Overall finishers in the 10K Bike and the 5K Run.
Prizes for the top 3 finishers in 5 year increment
age categories for male & female
Online: www.TLC5K.blogspot.com
By Mail: Download a registration form from the
website and mail to:
TLC5K, 1 886 Woodpoint Court,
Lawrenceville, GA 30043
In Person: on race day (day of race registrants
are not guaranteed a t-shirt)
Go to www.TLC5K.blogspot.com
or e-mail: fundracers5k@gmail.com