Newspaper Page Text
20 Pages, 2 Sections, Plus Preprints A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. Winder, Barrow County, Georgia $1.00 Copy Wednesday, November 10, 2021
JCSO deputy, former local law enforcement employee killed in line of duty
From staff reports
news@mainstreetnews.com
A Jackson County Sheriff’s Office
deputy who previously worked with
the Winder Police Department and
Barrow County Sheriff’s Office has
died in the line of duty. Deputy Lena
Marshall was shot during a domestic
call in West Jackson on Friday, Nov. 5.
She died on Monday, Nov. 8.
The shooting happened during a
domestic call at a residence on Hwy.
124 near Publix around 9:20 p.m. on
Friday. Nov. 5.
According to the Georgia Bureau
of Investigation, deputies were called
to a residence at 6416 Hwy. 124,
Hoschton, where homeowners wanted
a non-resident out of the home.
When deputies arrived, they made
contact with a woman at the front door
who pulled a firearm and pointed it
at deputies. The deputies ordered the
woman to drop the weapon, but she
opened fire on the deputies, striking
Marshall.
The second deputy on the scene
returned fire, striking and killing the
alleged shooter, Jessica Worsham, 43.
of Hoschton. Worsham had previously
shared a multitude of videos online in
which she expressed hatred towards
the county judicial system and law
enforcement. Jackson County Sheriff
Janis Mangum said the department
was familiar with Worsham, but they
didn’t know she and her children had
moved into that residence.
“My deputies didn’t know she
was there (in the house); they were
just going to a domestic, they didn’t
know. We had talked about her; they
had been cautioned if they dealt with
her... I felt like she would do what she
said she wanted to do (on the videos),”
said Mangum, adding that the shooter
claimed she was a “sovereign citizen”
and immune from the law.
Marshall was taken to a local trau
ma center in critical condition and
ultimately succumbed to her injuries
Monday, Nov. 8.
“As Sheriff, and on behalf of the
Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, it is
with a heavy heart that I advise you
all that we lost Deputy Lena Marshall
around 3:50 p.m. today,” Mangum
said in a brief update Monday. “Once
arrangements have been made, we will
provide that information. Please re
spect the privacy of Deputy Marshall’s Lena MarshaU a Jackson County Sheriff , s 0fflce dep .
family at this difficult time. u ty, was killed in the line of duty after a shooting last
See Deputy, page 3A week. She died Monday, Nov. 8. Photo from Facebook.
Early voting
for Winder
runoffs set
Advance voting for the
two Winder City Council
runoff elections has been
scheduled for Nov. 22-24
ahead of the Nov. 30 runoff
date.
In Ward 1, incumbent
councilman Sonny Mor
ris and challenger Yvonne
Greenway are facing off
after they finished as the
top two vote-getters in the
race last week — Morris
receiving 44.4% of the vote
and Greenway garnering
27.8%.
All city voters will also
be able to vote in the runoff
between incumbent coun
cilman Chris Akins and
Stephanie Britt in the city
wide at-large race. Akins
got 45.1% of the vote in the
general election, while Britt
received 35.6%.
All in-person advanced
voting will be 9 a.m. to
5 p.m. Nov. 22-23 and
9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 23 at
the Barrow County elec
tions office, 233 East Broad
St., Winder.
All election day voting
will be 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Nov. 30 at the Winder Com
munity Center, 113 East
Athens St.
The last day for voters to
request an absentee ballot
See Voting, page 12A
Index:
Public safety
6-7A
Local news
2, 12A
Classifieds
4B
Legals
8-11A
Obituaries
5B
Opinion
4-5A
Sports
1-3, 6-8B
A special recognition
Submitted photo
Katherine Weaver (middle), a social worker at Winder Health Care and
Rehabilitation, received the 2021 Para-professional Caregiver of the Year
Award from the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers (RCI) last week.
She is pictured with Carrie Harris (left), community engagement coordi
nator for RCI, and Dr. Jennifer Olsen, CEO of RCI.
Winder Health Care social worker
receives statewide caregiver award
The Rosalynn Carter Institute for
Caregivers (RCI) and Seniorlink to
day announced the winners of the
2021 Georgia Caregivers of the Year
awards, and a local caregiver was
among the recipients.
Katherine Weaver, a social worker
at Winder Health Care and Rehabilita
tion, was named the 2021 Para-profes-
sional Caregiver of the Year and was
honored at the facility Nov. 3 in a sur
prise drive-by celebration. Weaver re
ceived a gilded rose, a citation signed
by former First Lady and RCI founder
Rosalynn Carter and a $1,000 check.
Weaver’s award and two other
awards handed out by the institute —
Family Caregiver of the Year and Vol
unteer Caregiver of the Year — came
at the start of National Family Care
givers Month, a nationwide celebra
tion every November of the men and
women who support individuals in
need of care.
“The Georgia Caregivers of the Year
celebration is an opportunity for us to
recognize the tremendous contribu
tions of caregivers to our health care
system, our economy and our commu
nities,” said Dr. Jennifer Olsen, chief
executive officer of RCI, in a news re
lease. “Our three winners are strong,
resilient, inspiring individuals who
consistently put the needs of the peo
ple they care for first, and their stories
are representative of the experiences
of the more than 53 million caregiv
ers in America. But at the same time
that we thank and celebrate individual
caregivers, we must continue to advo
cate for better services, support, and
responsive policies for all caregivers.
Caregivers are at a breaking point, and
we must do better to understand and
prioritize their well-being.”
This was the second year of spon
sorship of the awards by Seniorlink, a
tech-enabled care management com
pany focused on keeping care in the
See Weaver, page 2A
Winder man turns
himself in after confessing
to killing his girlfriend
A Winder man turned
himself into authorities
Monday morning, Nov. 8,
and claimed to have mur
dered his girlfriend, whose
body was found at her apart
ment later in the morning.
According to a Winder
Police Department news
release, 47-year-old James
Leon Harvey walked into
the Barrow County Deten
tion Center and told staff
he had just killed his girl
friend and wanted to turn
himself in. After detention
center authorities notified,
the WPD, police went to the
Glen Avenue apartment and
found Vivian Delores Bill
ings, 59. there deceased.
Evidence at the scene
matched what Harvey told
James Leon Harvey
police, according to the re
lease. Harvey was charged
with felony murder and
aggravated assault. He had
not received a bond on the
charges as of late Monday
afternoon.
Petitions to amend
Winder charter fail to
garner enough signatures
By Scott Thompson
sthompson@barrownewsjournal.com
Three petitions aimed at making major changes to the
City of Winder’s charter have been declared invalid by the
mayor and city council after each of them failed to garner
enough signatures to force a voter referendum.
During a called meeting Thursday, Nov. 4, the coun
cil voted to formally declare invalid the petitions, which
sought to cap the millage rate at 3 mills, establish a “citi
zen’s veto” measure where residents could petition to for
a referendum to overturn any council actions, and set term
limits for council seats and the mayor’s office.
After the council’s vote in early August to double the
city’s millage rate from 3 to 6 mills, city resident Jessi
ca Burton in late August began circulating the petitions,
which needed the signatures of at least 20% of the active
registered voters in the previous municipal election (2019,
when there were 11,014 registered voters), and a special
election would have needed to be held within the next 30
days.
See Petitions, page 12A
MAILING LABEL
BOC votes to keep age-restriction requirement on portion
of planned development off Hwy. 53, Rockwell Church Rd.
By Scott Thompson
sthompson@barrownewsjournal.com
The Barrow County Board of Commission
ers voted Tuesday, Nov. 9, to remove some of
the conditions attached to a long-planned ma
jor residential project of more than 300 homes
off Highway 53 — but not two of the main
ones that had been sticking points for the coun
ty planning commission and residents who live
near the proposed development.
After spending nearly an hour on homebuild
er D.R. Horton’s request for relief from sev
eral conditions attached to the 2008 rezoning
of 144.7 acres along both sides of Rockwell
Church Road to the west of Highway 53 — in
cluding a public hearing and more than half an
hour of discussion — the board voted 6-1 in
favor of commissioner Ben Hendrix’s motion
to keep in place requirements that the portion
of the development on the northern side of
Rockwell Church Road remain age-restricted
to residents 55 and older and that all homes
throughout the development be a minimum of
2,000 heated square feet.
The BOC differed in its vote from the plan
ning commission, which recommended an
across-the-board denial of the requests last
month.
The board also voted to cap the number of
homes at the originally-approved 305 instead
of the 313 shown on D.R. Horton’s latest site
plan.
Tiffany Hogan, a representative for D.R.
Horton, had asked the county to lift the age
requirement for the northern side of Rockwell
Church Road and substitute a condition that
the 75 or so homes would be “age-targeted”
and marketed toward seniors.
She also proposed that those homes be al
lowed to have a minimum of 1,800 square feet
so that the company could build its ranch-style
homes it markets toward seniors. She argued
that putting age restrictions in place would
present legal limitations and “could result in
not all of the homes being sold in a timely
manner.”
But Hendrix and chairman Pat Graham both
were vocal in support of keeping the age and
house size requirements in place, agreeing on
the need for more senior housing in the county
but also adding that the county should keep the
size requirements in line with other develop
ments it has been greenlighting. While 2,000
square feet has been a standard condition, Gra
ham even suggested a 2,400-square foot min
imum before ultimately supporting Hendrix’s
motion.
When the county initially rezoned the prop
erty, owned by the J. Daniel Blitch Family
Partnership, over a decade ago, a commercial
component was planned but has since been
scrapped.
See BOC, page 2A
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