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Your official newspaper serving Greene, Morgan and Putnam counties in Georgia’s Lake Country \ www.LakeOconeeNews.us VOL. 19 NO. 38 FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 22 2017 75 CENTS GREENE COUNTY GREENSBORO MAN CHARGED WITH MURDER T. Michael Stone michael@lakeoconeenews.us A Greensboro man has been charged with murder and vehicular homicide in the death of 19-year- old Dominique Shantay Butler, according to the Greene County Sheriffs Office. Butler was a passenger in a car driven by Damien Ja’Won West, 20, and died when West crashed at the conclusion of a police chase on Aug. 18. According to an accident report obtained from the Georgia State Patrol, West was attempting to elude Greene County Sheriffs Office deputies while traveling south on Gray Horse Road at ap proximately 10:30 p.m. The report says West ran the stop sign at the intersection of Leslie Mill Road, passed through the in tersection and struck an embank ment on the other side, turning the car on its side as it did. The vehicle caught fire immedi ately after the accident, but deputies were able to extinguish the flames. Deputies broke the windshield and pulled West out; Butler was pronounced dead at the scene. The Georgia State Patrol Special ized Collision Reconstruction Team is continuing its investigation into the accident and has already com pleted forensic maps of the scene and collision analysis. Additional charges may follow. James M. Morton/Staff Hospital leaders join local and state officials to break ground on the new Morgan Memorial Hospital Tuesday. Dr. Zant: This will be our hospital T. Michael Stone thority members held a ceremonial ground- “Terry Evans steered the hospital through michael@lakeoconeenews.us breaking Tuesday. some rough times to get us to this day,” Castillo The hospital’s CEO, Ralph Castillo, intro- said. “His leadership and ultimately his sacri- The mood was one of celebration at the duced several local and state officials who fice is a very big reason we are here today.” future site of the new Morgan Memorial have been involved in the process, including Hospital Tuesday morning as Hospital Au- former authority chairman Terry Evans. SEE HOSPITAL » A2 PUTNAM COUNTY Ticket broker arrested James M. Morton james@lakeoconeenews.us When Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills said he would throw an Eatonton man’s [expletive] in jail for not delivering UGA football tickets, he wasn’t joking. And that’s just what happened on the morning of Sept. 15 when Sills and his deputies went to the 100 block of Lake Forrest Drive in Eatonton to serve two warrants on Jeffery Martin Cook at his home. Cook has been charged SEE ARREST » A2 index Calendar B4 Churches B8 Classifieds D4 Community B1 Obituaries A8 Opinions A8 Recipes D1 Sports C1 Sports C1 FRIDAY 82/67 Isolated T-storms WEATHER »D8 0 94922 87855 7 Published by Smith Communications Inc. LAKE COUNTRY Prison escapees indicted Death penalty sought for defendants charged with killing officers Lynn Hobbs lynn@lakeoconeenews.us The two inmates who escaped a Georgia Department of Correc tions bus traveling through Putnam County after reportedly overpower ing and killing the two GDC officers on board June 13 were indicted by a Putnam County grand jury Monday. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty, and court documents show that there were mitigating circum stances in this case that warrant capitol punishment. Ricky Allen Dubose, 24, of Madison County, and Donnie Russell Rowe, 43, of Lewisburg, Tenn., each were indicted separately on two counts of murder, two counts of felony murder, one count of escape and one count of hijacking a motor vehicle, according to records from Putnam County Superior Court. At the time of their escape, Rowe had been serving life without parole since 2002 for aggravated assault, armed robbery, possession of a firearm and other crimes. Dubose was serving a 20-year sentence for aggravated assault, armed robbery, entering vehicles, SEE INDICTED » A3 Inmates Ricky Dubose and Donnie Rowe enter Putnam County Superior Court June 21, clad in chained shackles for their first appearance hearing. File Photo MORGAN COUNTY Mayor Fred Perriman needs four more years Mayor Fred Perriman has been involved with city gov ernment in Madison for almost 34 years, and he would like to serve as mayor for four more. Perriman served on the Madision City Council for 30 years, joining the city’s govern ing body in 1983. “I decided to run again because there are a few projects I would like to see completed,” Perriman said. Perriman says he would like to see the West Washington Street Gateway project on Madison’s west side brought to fruition with final removal of blighted properties and the addition of new office space and parking areas. Some renewal in the area has already been accomplished, ac cording to the mayor, including the Silver Lake Community, the Gilmore House project, Canaan Corner Store and improvement of storm water systems for neighborhoods off of West Washington St. Perriman says the Madison City Council and staff have worked well together in recent years. SEE MAYOR » A10 Perriman Who you choose to work with in real estate makes all the difference... "We had our home for sale with another agent for one year and never received an offer. 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