Newspaper Page Text
Weekend Edition-December 16-17,2022
2A | FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS | ForsythNews.com
FORSYTH FORECAST
The four-day outlook
Sunny
50/34
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
Partly Cloudy
44/28
Sunny
44/27
MONDAY
Partly Cloudy
49/31
Lake Lanier level
1068.2 feet (as of 10 a.m. Dec. 15)
Full pool is 1,071 feet
Dec. 12:1067.94 feet
Dec. 13:1067.92 feet
Dec. 14:1067.88 feet
J
UPCOMING EVENTS
The Cumming Arts Center has
extended hours for its new
Christmas Marketplace and Festival
ofTrees. Hours for December are
Thursday-Saturday, 11am-3pm and
Sundays 1-4pm. Unique artisan
handmade items perfect for gift giv
ing are for sale in the expanded
Gallery Gift Shop as well as artist
decorated 1-4 foot trees and wreaths.
A Nativities collection is also on dis
play throughout this lovely historic
house.The Arts Center is located at
111 Pilgrim Mill Rd in downtown
Cumming. Parking and Entry are
free. Visit sawneeart.org for more
info on all events, activities, classes
and more.
ONGOING
Lord of Life Lutheran Church:
Please join us for worship on
Sundays at 10:30 a.m.You can also
view the service live each Sunday
through Facebook Live (www.face-
book.com/lordoflifealpharetta.org).
Lord of Life Lutheran Church offers a
Ch rist-centered/fa m i ly-oriented m i n-
istry.The church is at 5390 McGinnis
Ferry Road, Alpharetta. For more
information, call 770-740-1279 or visit
www.Lord-life.org.
Episcopal Church of the Holy
Spirit will have Sunday service at
8:30 a.m. and 10:45 a.m., (coffee &
conversation held after each service),
and adult education at 9:30 a.m.,
Wednesday service at noon. Each
evening Compline is held via
Facebook live at 8 p.m. on www.
facebook.com/ECOHS.net. We also
have Bible Study onTuesday at 6
p.m. andThursday at 10:30 a.m.
Thursday. Visit www.ecohs.net for all
available opportunities, including
Vacation Bible School coming up.
Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit is
at 724 Pilgrim Mill Rd., Cumming.
Treat theTroops Southern Style,
which provides comfort foods for our
deployed soldiers, will have packing
events at 7 p.m. Feb. 1, May 2, Aug. 1
and Nov. 7 at the VFW Post 9143,
1045 Dahlonega Hwy., Cumming.
Please bring homemade cookies (six
per twist-tie baggie and labeled if
they contain nuts), candy, individual
servings of packable food, travel-size
toiletries and letters or cards of
appreciation.Tax-deductible postage
donations are needed. If you know of
anyone who is currently deployed
outside the Continental United
States, email Linda their name, mili
tary mailing address and expected
return date. For more information,
email lktjones@ bellsouth.net, or go
online at www.treatthetroops.org.
ABOUT US AND OUR VALUES
The public has a right to know,
and the Forsyth County News is ded
icated to that principle and the “con
tinued enlightenment and freedom of
the people of North Georgia,” as
engraved outside our building.
The pursuit of truth is a funda
mental principle of journalism. But
the truth is not always apparent or
known immediately.
A professional journalist’s role is
to report as completely and impar
tially as possible verifiable facts so
readers can, based on their own
knowledge and experience, deter
mine what they believe to be the
truth. That is often an ongoing pur
suit as journalists work to uncover
stories and follow those stories
wherever they lead, regardless of
preconceived ideas.
The news they report is separate
from the opinions shared in the
pages of the FCN, which include
those by its columnists, political car
toonists and readers who submit let
ters to the editor.
The presentation of both news and
opinions is designed to educate,
entertain and foster community con
versation. Readers are encouraged to
challenge and sharpen their percep
tions based on that presentation.
And we encourage readers to do
the same for us, offering news tips,
criticisms and questions.
As your honestly local news
source, we serve our readers first.
Find us on these platforms or
reach out to our newsroom at news-
tips@forysthnews.com or 770-887-
3126.
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OBITS
Obituaries
William Delmar
Smith
December 10, 2022
William Delmar Smith of
Cumming. Georgia, passed
away on December 10, 2022,
at the age of 79. William was
born September 7, 1943, to
the late William Albert Smith
and Mattie Pearle Moreland,
in Nashville, TN. William was
an attorney in Atlanta, Ga
since 1973 and was licensed
to practice law in Georgia and
Tennessee. William is sur
vived by his loving wife
Teresa Smith; his children:
Del Smith (Alexis), Shannan
Smith Krippner (Dan) and
Sarah Smith Tancini (Chris);
and his sister Bonnie Prince.
He is also survived by his lov
ing grandchildren Nathan,
Hayden, Avery, and
McKenna. A visitation will be
held at McDonald and Son
Funeral Home Monday,
December 19, 2022, from
11:00 - 12:00 immediately
followed by a service at
12:00. Interment will be held
at Georgia National Cemetery
in Canton, Georgia on
Tuesday, December 20, 2022
at 1:00pm. Condolences may
be expressed at www.mcdon-
aldandson.com.
Arrangements by:
McDonald and Son Funeral
Home,150 Sawnee Drive,
Cumming, Ga 30040.
Death Notices
Marjorie Crane
December 11, 2022
Marjorie Crane, 86, of
Dawsonville took her heaven
ly flight on Sunday,
December 11. Funeral servic
es will be held on Thursday,
December 15, at 11:00 a.m. at
Mill Creek Baptist church.
The family will receive
friends at the funeral home on
Wednesday from 3:00 - 8:00
p.m. Bearden Funeral Home,
Dawsonville Ga.
Indictment: Mom used drugs
before killing Georgia toddler
Associated Press
SAVANNAH — The
mother of a toddler
found dead in a Georgia
landfill has been charged
with murder and other
crimes in a 19-count
indictment that alleges
she used drugs before
killing her son and
dumping his body in a
trash bin.
A Chatham County
grand jury returned the
indictment against
Leilani Simon on
Wednesday. She has been
jailed since police arrest
ed her Nov. 21, when
investigators found her
son’s remains after
weeks spent combing
through garbage at a
landfill.
Simon called 911 the
morning of Oct. 5 to
report her 20-month-old
son, Quinton Simon, was
missing from his indoor
playpen at their home
outside Savannah. After
police spent days search
ing the home and sur
rounding neighborhood,
Chatham County Police
Chief Jeff Hadley said
that investigators believed
the child was dead. He
also named Simon as the
sole suspect.
Police and FBI agents
focused their investiga
tion on the landfill two
weeks after the boy was
reported missing. They
sifted through trash for
more than a month
before finding human
bones, which DNA tests
confirmed to be
Quinton’s.
The indictment against
Simon charges her with
murder, concealing a
death, and falsely report
ing a crime in addition to
14 separate counts of
lying to investigators,
news outlets reported.
Court records did not list
an attorney for Simon
and it was not immedi
ately known if she had a
lawyer who could speak
on her behalf.
The night before her
son’s death, according to
the indictment, Simon
met with a drug dealer
and used an unspecified
drug.
The indictment said
Quinton died the morn
ing of Oct. 5 after his
mother assaulted him
with an unknown object,
causing the child “seri
ous bodily injury.” The
charges say she then
dumped his body in a
trash bin outside a
mobile home park about
1.5 miles from her home.
Simon later told investi
gators she had gone there
to dispose of “normal
household garbage.”
Chatham County
Shalena Cook Jones
declined to release fur
ther details during a
news conference
Wednesday, when she
promised to get justice
for the slain child.
“It’s a matter that calls
our very humanity into
question,” the prosecutor
said. “These are the
cases that keep us up at
night.”
Rapper Gunna pleads guilty
in racketeering case in Atlanta
ByKATEBRUMBACK
Associated Press
ATLANTA — Rapper
Gunna, who was arrested
earlier this year along
with fellow rapper Young
Thug and more than two
dozen other people, on
Wednesday pleaded guilty
in Atlanta to a racketeer
ing conspiracy charge,
according to a statement
released by his attorneys.
Fulton County prosecu
tors in May obtained the
sprawling 88-page indict
ment that said members
of the Young Slime Life
criminal street gang com
mitted violent crimes to
collect money for the
gang, promote its reputa
tion and grow its power
and territory.
Gunna, whose given
name is Sergio Kitchens,
appeared in court
Wednesday and entered
what is called an Alford
plea, which allows a per
son to maintain his inno
cence while acknowledg
ing that it is in his best
interest to plead guilty.
“While I have agreed
to always be truthful, I
want to make it perfectly
clear that I have NOT
made any statements,
have NOT been inter
viewed, have NOT coop
erated, have NOT agreed
to testify or be a witness
for or against any party in
the case and have abso
lutely NO intention of
being involved in the trial
process in any way,” the
rapper said in the state
ment.
Kitchens was sen
tenced to five years, with
credit for time served and
the balance suspended,
said Steve Sadow, one of
his attorneys. He also
must do 500 hours of
community service,
including 350 hours
speaking “to young men
and women about the
hazards and immorality
of gangs and gang vio
lence, and the decay that
it causes in our commu
nities,” Sadow wrote in
an email. He also isn’t
allowed to have any guns
or to have contact with
others charged except
through his attorneys or
music label.
The trial for others
charged in the indictment
is set to begin next
month.
Young Thug, whose
given name is Jeffery
Lamar Williams, co
wrote the hit “This is
America” with Childish
Gambino, making history
when it became the first
hip-hop track to win the
song of the year Grammy
in 2019. Fulton County
prosecutors say that in
late 2012, he and two
others founded Young
Slime Life, a violent
criminal street gang
that’s commonly known
as YSL and is affiliated
with the national Bloods
gang. He has pleaded not
guilty to the charges
against him.
Separately, The Atlanta
Journal-Constitution
reported that Walter
Murphy, another person
charged in the indictment,
entered a guilty plea
Tuesday. Prosecutors have
said he cofounded the
Young Slime Life gang
with Williams. Murphy
was sentenced to 10
years, with one year com
muted to time served and
nine years of probation,
the newspaper reported.
Kitchens said in his
statement that when he
became affiliated with
YSL in 2016, he didn’t
consider it a gang but
rather “a group of people
from metro Atlanta who
had common interests
and artistic aspirations.”
His focus was entertain
ment, he said, “rap artists
who wrote and performed
music that exaggerated
and ‘glorified’ urban life
in the Black community.”
Kitchens is signed to
Williams’ Young Stoner
Life record label. He
scored his second No. 1
on the Billboard 200
album chart with
“DS4Ever” this year.
FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS
A Metro Market Media Publication
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