Newspaper Page Text
A mother rushes to
defend son’s image
By Timethy Cox
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Wniter
AUGUSTA
“There’s two sides to every story.
Chnisis no longer sides here, sol'm
giving his side ”
Those are the words of Cherrie
Scott, the mother of Christopher
Anthony Andrews, the young man
who was stabbed to death on the
night of March 10 at a Barton Vil
lage residence. Christopher’s es
tranged girlfriend, Alicia Michelle
Hall, 20, has been charged with the
murder.
Less than a week following
March 16 funeral ceremonies for
the second born of her three sons,
Mrs. Scott said her emotions ranged
from “anger to sympathetic " Still,
it’s her mission not to let her son's
reputation remain tarnished
“All the media and newspapers
talked about him like he was some
type of criminal, or a bad guy. He
wasn’t,” said Mrs. Scott, about the
young man she affectionately called
“Chnis.”
Meanwhile, Ms. Hall remains
behind bars at the Richmond
County Law Enforcement Center
charged with possession of a knife
during the commission of a crime,
in addition to the murder, accord
ing to the Richmond County
Sheriffs Department. At press
time, no bond has been set
In discounting media reports
which disclosed police information
that Christopher was unemployed
Gncluding the Augusta Focus
March 16 edition), Mrs. Scott said
her son was currently employed at
Carole Fabrics, a drapery produc
Successful home program
for cops offered to teachers
BOfficer N <t Door
mitiative opens to
teachers, but not in
most needed Augusta
areas.
By Eileen Rivers
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staflf Writer
AUGUSTA
An initiative that has raised
the social and economic growth
of lower income, Housing and
Urban Development neighbor
hoods in Augusta by allowing
officerstolivein the areas where
they work, 1s expanding.
HUD's Officer Next Door pro
gram, which started in 1997,
has “greatly improved” areas in
South Augusta, according to
Richmond County Sheriff
Charlie Webster.
Now teachers in Augusta will
be able to take advantage of the
same program, and bring neigh
borhoods that lie within the
30906 zip code up to a better
standard of living.
“It serves as a deterrent to
crime when you have an officer
that lives in your neighborhood,”
commented Lt. Stoney Turnage,
a participant in the program,
and a member of the Richmond
County Sheriff Department’s
Vice Squad. “Teachers will prob
ably be able to have just as posi
Trash Alert! Join the Metro Augusta Clean & Beautiful on Saturday,
March 25, 2000, for the Great American Cleanup. Be a part of this
special day!
Free trash bags and vests are available and a special gift for the group who
picks up the highest number of filled trash bags.
To register your group or for more information, please call 821-1790.
g - I
»® il :
S .‘ »
.
\ N -4
P
Christopher Anthony Andrews
tion company in Martinez. The
company’s human resources de
partment confirmed his employ
ment. Chnstopher also formerly
worked as a telephone sales repre
sentative at Future Call on Stevens
Creek Road
In fact, on the morning of his
death day, Mrs. Scott recounted
the events which occurred after
her son had returned home after
he got off around 10:30 a.m. “He
came home, got his clothes out the
cleaners, cashed his check and paid
some bills,” said his mother. “Any
one that knows Chris, knew he
was a very neat person,” she re
flected
About 3 p.m_, her son went tothe
barbershop for a haircut and re
turned home around 6 p.m. Earhier
that afternoon, Mrs. Scott said her
mece from Kingstree, S.C. had
made the weekend trip to visit the
famuly home which 1s located off
tive of an effect.”
The Teacher Next Door initia
tive 1s one of many HUD and
Federal Housing Administration
funded programs aimed at im
proving the standard of living in
areas designated as HUD revital
-lization neighborhoods.
State-certified, full-time, kin
dergarten through 12" grade
teachers can purchase a foreclosed
home for half of its market value,
through either HUD, a real estate
agent, or any other non-profit or
ganization that has purchased a
HUD home.
Those who use mortgages in
sured by FHA (a subsidiary of
HUD), can make down payments
for as little as SIOO.
The only stipulation is that par
ticipants must use the home for at
least three years as their sole resi
dence.
“It’s really not a bad deal,” com
mented Turnage, who closed on
his new house last week. “Offic
ers get first dibs on the homes,
and can buy a SIOO,OOO house for
as little as $50,000. After three
vears they can sell it for SIIO,OOO
and all the profit goes to the of
ficer.”
However South Augusta isn't
the only area in need of economic
and social development, accord
ing to Kenneth Boose, a loan of
ficer with Southern Mortgage, and
former participant in the program.
“The 30906 area code definitely
City / Region
Meadowbrook Drive, along with
her(the niece’s) boyfriend and their
children.
In addition to her husband
Marion Scott, who was preparing
to leave the house for his 11 p.m.
shift at the Avondale Mills in Au
gusta, Mrs. Scott said she and the
rest of the family were sitting
around laughing, having a relaxed
Friday evening. “Chris had even
thought about going to the Chaka
Khan concert with his cousins and
brother David,” she said. Along
with David, 21, the Scotts have
another son, Timothy, who is 28.
Although she admits her son had
known the Hall woman since the
two had been teenagers, the mother
described the couple’s relationship
as “up and down,” adding that Ms.
Hall had “just started calling the
house in the past couple months
They had broken up, but 1 guess
they started up again,” said Mrs.
Scott.
Concerning her feelings about
the woman charged with stabbing
her son through the heart, Mrs.
Scott said, “l really don’t know
what to feel. I almost feel sorry for
her. I just don’t know.” Although
she's quite concerned about her
two grandchildren of which her
son is the father, Mrs. Scott said
she has not been in contact with
the children due to circumstances
and possible legal conflict
Mrs. Scott is also worried about
her voungest son David, whom she
said was in close proximity to the
residence where the murder oc
curred. “David held his brother in
his arms right after it happened,”
said the visibly distraught mother.
Because of their closeness in age
can use it,” Boose, who now
works with officers and teach
ers purchasing HUD homes,
explained. “But if you look at
the statistics in Richmond
County, the downtown areas are
in need of the most economic
development, and are currently
being ignored.”
The program includes neigh
borhoods south of Gordon High
way, up to Tobacco Road, but
Boose would like to see it spread
to all areas in Augusta. He
called HUD two weeks ago, re
questing that they expand the
program’s outreach, but so far
no action has been taken.
The program’s director is re
searching the possibility of
bringing the initiative into
downtown areas, Boose said.
“Idon’t think they realize how
much help is needed in down
town areas compared to South
Augusta neighborhoods,” he
added. “I think areas every
where deserve economic expan
sion.”
So far no teachers in Augusta
have used the initiative, which
started Monday, March 13. But
nationwide 8,000 to 10,000
houses, townhouses and condo
miniums will be for sale.
Since its beginning, 3,379
homes have been purchased
through the Officer Next Door
program.
and the tight bond the brothers
enjoyed, Mrs. Scott said she’s con
sidering professional counseling for
David “They shared rooms from
the time they were kids They were
very close,” she said.
As proof of the way Christopher
was loved by his fmends and fam
ily, Mrs. Scott said the funeral turn
out at Broadway Baptist Church
on Barton Chapel Road was a very
large. “He played basketball for
Glenn Hills, and he graduated —
in 1995,” she said. “The paper made
him out like he was a big guy. He
wasn't at all. He was thin. Lanky.
Kind of like J.J. from Good Times.
Chns was about 145 pounds soak
ing wet. And he was smart. Intelli
gent.
“I just want people to know that
my son was not a bad boy. He had
his faults, and so did she. But no
one really knows what happened
that night. It allhappened in about
20 minutes. But why””
Christopher would have cel
ebrated his 23" birthday Tuesday,
March 21. According to District
Attorney Danny Craig’s office, Ms.
Hall is scheduled for a March 23
preliminary hearing to establish
probable cause, according to assis
tant district attorney Jason
Troiano
Ms. Hall has refused assistance
from the indigent legal department
or state-appointed attorney, and is
seeking assistance from a private
attorney, according to a represen
tative from indigent legal offices. A
bond hearing that was scheduled
for March 17 was continued or post
poned and no bond was given or
denied, Troiano said.
Aucus'ri\ #gsumsmls sl-ln\nu'c...
A 11:1- 1. 18
' 'fifig\'fi'{ ZERO DOWN)
: DEALS ON ALL NEWwW ,
e MITSUBISHI'S. !
. GO -
OR BUY WITH ZERO DOWN
IPRE-OWNED CLEARANCEI
E;‘;.E:-?ng- teeeee....SPECIAL
c-IsooPICKUP .........SPECIAL
B i
B oo
QRAND AM - ......00..... 2,850
B ..
B L T
INTREPID ................ 3,980
mnuto cssssssses D
e OSSPSR
AUGUSTAR"";
MITSUBISHI %
MITSUBISH| S6rvice Depsiwart Houwm: One block west of )
weke up and erive” 7:3oam - 6:oopm Gordon Highway V-
Al payments based on 54 monthly payments (53 @ $lB9 phus 1 payment of $12,.180 « Montero Spoet) (83 @ 6140 plus 1 paymentaf
88,875 « Ecipse. SB.BOO » Galnt ) &t (Montero = 7.37%), (Galert « §.72%), (Echpse = 7.32%) APR with 20% down, pius e with apPvoved
; credit. 10k riles per yaer sliowsd, 15¢ therssher. Prices phus tav. tage & ene. Ofiars not in conjuncsion.
AUGUSTA FOCUS
Commissioner chides county
attorney for lack of diversity
By Timothy Cox
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
AUGUSTA
Before any conclusive votes oc
cur surrounding the city’s legal
department, the development of
the law department reflecting the
county’'s diverse population
should be considered, according
todiscussions at a recent subcom
mittee meeting of Richmond
County commissioners
Commussioner Lee Beard, who
chairs the law department sub
committee, said before voting on
the future of the city's law prac
tices, sometime next month his
committee will also require de
tails on the level of service cur
rently provided by attorney Jim
Wall and his law firm, and de
tailed financial statements divulg
ing how county funds were ex
pended
But it was commissioner Marion
Williams who offered that Wall
and hislaw firm of Burnside, Wall,
Daniels and Revell, had not exer
cised enough effort to include
minorities on the legal end. “With
51 percent of blacks in the (county)
population, 1 think you should
have gone out and tried to get a
black on your staff. You have no
minorities: Chinese, black, Ori
ental ... and you say vou can't find
anyone”” asked Williams, the Dis
trict 2 representative. Wall re
sponded that he has considered
diversity as an issue.
As he did during a meeting last
month, Williams again questioned
the attorney about spending over
$1 million or $600,000 over the
$450.000 allotment the county
budgeted his firm during calender
vear 1999. Williams said he re
ceived his figures from the
county’s accounting office.
Williams, along with commis
sioner Andy Cheek, the District 6
representative, are most critical
. ... .........
B i T
SIDEKICK ................8,500
s e v < cvvcvess
BRI - <« .ccocnnnennes. DOOT
B e ciciesnss
ORAND AM ..............*10,338
:'-‘.:.'7.'-"'.".'.".............-10.495
SUNFIRE ................"10,880
CARAVAN ............... 11,280
MARCH 23, 2000
of Wall's continuing in his present
role next year. Both representa
tives think taxpayers may fare
better if an in-house legal depart
ment were established.
Wall told the committee he's
prepared to attend the next meet
ing with a detailed financial state
ment outlining exactly how his
budget was spent.
In defense of his spending, Wall
told commissioners that between
November 1998 through March
2000, $739,119 was used to pay
for external services including
consultants, testing and general
expenses to defend a lawsuit filed
against the city for alleged envi
ronmental damages caused by
improperly placed sewage sludge
at a Burke County farm.
Wall also said an additional
$496,466 was paid to retain the
services of an external legal coun
sel called Kilpatrick-Stockton.
Only $289,765 of the county's
money was actually used for at
torney fees, Wall said. “We have
not been paid a million dollars in
attorneys fees,” said the attorney.
Commuissioners Steve Shepard
and Wilhie Mays agreed that Wall
has done a good job, and his level
of experience should not be dis
counted. However, Mays said this
was a good time to consider the
diversity issue. Mayor Bob Young
said he didn’t want the public to
get the idea the attorney was “be
ing picked on” because of diver
sity, but, “it’'s a valid point,” he
added.
Commussioner Beard said he
prefers a combination in-house
legal group along with an inde
pendent counsel like the current
system. “But in all fairness,” added
Beard, “We have to look at some
financial documents ™ The com
missioners are also looking at le
galdepartmentsin cities like Ath
ens, Columbus, Macon and Al
bany as benchmarks or models
3A