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WEDNESDAY, October 12,2016 FOISMRNCWS com 7 forsythcountynews . @ForsythNews 7] @ForsythNews SI.OO
Bouncer gets
20 yearsin
South grad’s
beating death
Gattos death results in plea
of voluntary manslaughter
From FCN regional staff
STATESBORO — In a plea agreement, Grant
James Spencer pled guilty Tuesday to voluntary
manslaughter and was sentenced to 20 years to
serve in prison for the Aug. 2014
beating death of fellow Georgia
Southern University student and
South Forsyth High School gradu
ate Michael Gatto.
After hearing emotionally
charged testimony from Gatto’s
family, including his mother, as
well as from Spencer himself and
his family members, Bulloch
County Superior Court Judge
William Woodrum handed down the sentence.
The plea agreement reduced the original charge
of felony murder to voluntary manslaughter, and
the original charge of aggravated battery was
“nolle prossed,” or not prosecuted.
Ogeechee Judicial Circuit Assistant District
Attorney Daphne Totten said during court that had
Spencer been convicted of the original charges, he
could have faced life without parole.
Spencer was a 20-year-old bouncer at Rude
Rudy’s, a bar near the Georgia Southern University
campus that has since closed, but was there off
duty the night Gatto was killed.
Totten testified Spencer was asked by bar man
agement to remove Gatto from the facility, and said
video shows the unprovoked attack where he
struck Gatto several times in the head. Then, Gatto,
who was 18 and only a couple months into his first
year at Georgia Southern, was dragged outside and
“left for dead,” she said.
Both Gatto and Spencer were drinking alcohol.
Gatto died of skull fractures and blunt force trau
ma, she said.
Woman arrested
for fraud after
stealing S22K
from employer
A Cumming woman was arrested for reportedly
stealing more than $20,000 from
her Forsyth County employer, U.S.
South Plumbing Inc.
Nichole Henson, 31, was booked
into the Forsyth County Jail on
Saturday, Oct. 8 for theft by tak
ing, financial transaction card theft
and financial transaction card
fraud after completing a lengthy
investigation into the matter,
according to a Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office
news release.
The sheriff’s office first received notification of
the employee-related theft Sept. 15 and opened a
criminal investigation into the accusations, Cpl.
Pete Saballa said in the release.
The fraud reportedly went on for nearly a year,
from Dec. 2015 to Sept. 2016, but was only report
ed after the owner, Martin Kesterson, realized
Henson had forged his signature on company
checks and made them out to herself, according to
an incident report.
The check values were all less than $1,500 each,
but Henson reportedly forged 29 checks for a total
of $21,935.91.
Henson has since posted a $16,830.00 bond.
Volume 107, Number 122
© 2016, Forsyth County News
Cumming, Georgia
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By Isabel Hughes
ihughes@forsythnews.com
Families who receive childcare aid may
soon lose assistance due to recent
changes to a childcare subsidy program in
the state of Georgia.
A statewide funding restriction went into
effect Oct. 1 for the Childcare and Parent
Services (CAPS) program, a subsidy
designed to help low-income families afford
safe child care.
While the restrictions will likely have little
effect on Forsyth County, residents and care
givers in neighboring counties are expected
to be directly affected, and some are already
Henson
Election board: read ballot before voting
By Kelly Whitmire
kwhitmire@forsythnews.com
On Monday, the Forsyth County
Board of Voter Registrations and
Elections held its final meeting before
advance voting begins Oct. 17 and the
Nov. 8 general election, and board
members and staff discussed how to
ensure election day runs as smooth as
possible.
Elections Supervisor Barbara Luth
Abby 6B
Classifieds 7B
Deaths 2A
Horoscopes 2A
Opinion 7A
Sports 1B
Sports
The Grind:
Pinecrest senior
embraces military
style regimine.
Presented by
Scott’s Auto Center
Page 1B
Ron Freeman,
the presumed
next Forsyth
County sheriff,
spoke to
American Legion
Post 307 Monday.
See story
Page 6A
said she is not concerned with long
poll lines but stressed that voters can
speed up the process by reviewing
sample ballots before voting.
“It is very important for voters to
view their ballot and review those
questions ahead of time so that when
they get to the booth they don’t have to
read them there, they don’t have to
make their minds up,” she said. “That
See VOTING | 2A
L,’, \ District 2
candidate
pens Trump
endorsement.
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worrying about what this might mean.
In Hall County, Executive Director of
Gainesville Academy Pam Forrester, voiced
her concerns to The Gainesviile Times.
“You are going to see a lot of kids who are
not going to be in a safe environment if this
CAPS thing keeps going the way it’s going.
And it’s hard-working families. They’re try
ing,” she said.
Director of the Joyland Child
Development Center, Sheila Missler, told
The Times more than 50 percent of the fami
lies at her daycare receive the subsidy,
though as of late September, the center had
See CHANGES | 5A
COMING UP
Look in Sunday’s
edition of the Forsyth
1 County News for the
1 firstinstallment in a
series previewing the
\ election, state and
local ballot questions
’} and local contested
| races.
3\ Apartments
at Collection
remain a
possibility.
Forecast | 2A