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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2018 | $1.00 | GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA | gainesvilletimes.com
Honestly Local
Judge: Man competent to face trial
Suspect to go before court on murder charge in shooting case posted on Snapchat
BY NICK WATSON
nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com
A Sautee teen accused of shoot
ing and killing another teen at a
North Hall gas station, an incident
recorded and posted on Snapchat,
is competent to stand trial, a Hall
County Superior Court judge ruled.
Following an Oct. 10 hearing,
Judge Kathlene Gosselin wrote in a
Nov. 5 order that while Talon Low
ery “may not have understood the
full severity of the consequences,
he recognized he could be further
detained.”
“As the court noted at the hear
ing, it is far from uncommon for
young defendants to fail to appre
ciate the lifelong consequences of
a criminal act,” according to the
order.
Talon Roame Lowery, 19, was
charged with malice murder, fel
ony murder and two counts each
of aggravated assault and posses
sion of a firearm during the com
mission of a crime. A grand jury
handed down an indictment in
November 2017.
He is accused of shooting Bryan
Ramirez, 18, in the back with a
rifle Nov. 2, 2017, at the Cleveland
Highway Texaco.
Hall County Sheriff’s
Office Sgt. Stephen Wil
banks said a recording of
the shooting was posted
on Snapchat, which made
its way to a White County
investigator.
Lowery’s attorney Jeff
Brickman did not return
a request for comment
Monday.
At the Oct. 10 hearing, the state
presented a forensic psychologist
from the Georgia Department
of Behavioral Health and Devel
opmental Disabilities, Dr. Denis
Zavodny.
Although his answers
were often delayed and he
spoke of “vague suspicions
of ‘people’ out to get him,”
Lowery was “attentive,
organized in his thinking
and coherent,” according
to the order.
The state’s expert
administered a series of
tests to Lowery. In the
first, Lowery scored “so high that
Dr. Zavodny said that it meant
he could ‘pretty confidently say’
that he was exaggerating or feign
ing symptoms,” according to the
order.
Two tests showed possible exag
gerated illness, while the third test
on legal knowledge did not.
Lowery was also able to answer
25 of 26 written questions correctly
regarding his case.
Zavodny also addressed Low
ery’s reported auditory hallucina
tions, the details of which Zavodny
testified “proved to be at odds
with what is generally known to be
true about patients suffering from
hallucinations.
“Very atypically, Mr. Lowery
reported that the voices he heard
■ Please see MURDER, 6A
Lowery
Call to service on Veterans Day
SCOTT ROGERS I The Times
Ray Shubert salutes the colors Monday, Nov. 12, in the sanctuary at Lakewood Baptist Church during the annual
Veterans Day program.
U.S. Rep. Collins praises military for service and asks what about you?’
BY JEFF GILL
jgill@gainesvilletimes.com
Heavy rain canceled one of two
Veterans Day events Monday but
didn’t otherwise dampen the spirits
of those gathered for an annual cer
emony at Lakewood Baptist Church
in Gainesville.
U.S. Rep. Doug Collins, R-Gaines-
ville, was the featured speaker.
He said he has heard much about
how “the only people who go in the
military are those who can’t cut it,
those who are not good enough.
“ I’m telling you right now the ones
who go in the military are the best,
finest and brightest that we have. We
have the best military in the world.
Why? Not because of the toys, but
because of the people who serve.”
Collins, an Air Force Reserve
chaplain who served in Iraq, said
that while people might consider
Veterans Day in some general sense
involving the armed services, the
day is more about the individuals in
uniform.
“My question for us is, ‘What
about you? What’s your service?’ ” he
asked the audience. “For those who
have served in the military, thank
you. For those coming up, this is a
great place (to serve). Our country is
only as good as those willing to sacri
fice for it.”
He gave a few examples of those
who have served the U.S., including
a young servicewoman he met in
Iraq who had given birth to a daugh
ter four months earlier.
“If you’ve ever wondered about
the state of our country, don’t won
der very much when you have young
ladies like that,” Collins said. “That’s
the kind of sacrifice that this country
brings out.”
The Nov. 12 event, sponsored by
American Legion Paul E. Bolding
Post 7 in Gainesville, also featured
patriotic music from Chestatee
High School’s band and a Mara-
natha Christian Academy chorus,
plus the customary laying of memo
rial wreaths and remembering of
■ Please see VETERANS, 6A
Hall transit
may get ride
share options
BY MEGAN REED
mreed@gainesvilletimes.com
Local transit leaders are considering using options like Uber
and Lyft to supplement or replace Hall Area Transit.
A major push for change is coming with the 2020 census,
which may lead to Hall County being classified as a “large
urban area” and the loss of $500,000 in annual public transit
funding.
“It’s a significant loss of federal funding, and as a result, we
are doing this micro-transit study to see whether we can pro
vide this transit service to the population here using existing
Uber, Lyft or another company called Via,” Sam Baker, trans
portation planning manager for the Gainesville-Hall Metropol
itan Planning Organization, said. “We would use their cars and
vans to either supplement what Hall Area Transit provides or
replace existing transit service.”
Officials with Hall Area Transit and the Gainesville-Hall
Metropolitan Planning Organization are requesting a two-
month study be done to explore the “microtransit” options.
Uber and Lyft both operate in the area, but Via, a similar
ride-sharing service, does not. New York-based Via will get
$4,600 to do the study.
The study will look at whether using ridesharing services
or an app for public transit in Hall would be an economically
sound option.
Community Service Center Director Phillippa Lewis Moss,
who oversees Hall Area Transit, said the transit system sees
about 160,000 to 200,000 rides each year. Those numbers have
been stagnant over the past few years, she said.
Gwinnett County is doing a pilot program in an area of Snell-
ville, where people can ask for a ride either using the Micro
transit app or calling the Gwinnett County Transit customer
service line. A public transit vehicle will then meet them at
their location. The program started in September and is set
to finish early next year, when the county will evaluate data
before deciding how to move forward with microtransit.
Hall could either use county-owned vehicles for its micro
transit program or enter a public-private partnership with
a ride-sharing service to subsidize ride costs for the public,
Baker said. Findings from the study would determine that deci
sion, he said.
A study last year recommended the transit system expand
its services, hours and route system, Moss said. But news that
Hall would likely be designated a “large urban area” after the
2020 census, resulting in the loss of some funding, created a
challenge. Since then, the GHMPO and the county have been
looking at other options, including microtransit, she said.
The convenience of ride-sharing services also lines up with
consumer expectations, Moss said.
“People want fast, effective and efficient service, and they
don’t want to wait an hour for a bus or even 30 minutes for a
bus,” Moss said. “They want to look at an app and tell some
body, ‘This is where I’m standing. Come get me.’”
Kemp-Abrams feud shows new landscape in divided state
BY BILL BARROW
Associated Press
ATLANTA — His election still
undecided, Republican Brian
Kemp is proceeding as a victori
ous candidate and promising to be
a governor for all Georgians. That
might not be so easy.
Should his narrow lead hold over
Democrat Stacey Abrams and send
him to the governor’s mansion,
Kemp would face lingering ques
tions about how and why he over
saw his own election as secretary of
state. His victory would be fueled by
an even starker than usual urban-
rural divide, with Abrams drawing
most of her votes in metro Atlanta
and smaller cities, and Kemp run
ning up massive margins in rural
and small-town Georgia, eclipsing
85 percent in some counties.
Then there’s his embrace of
President Donald Trump’s coarse
rhetoric, from Kemp warning
about “illegal votes” to promising to
“round up criminal illegals” in his
Abrams Kemp
pickup truck.
That plays into what civil rights
leaders and observers from both
parties describe as a bitter, race
laden contest that pitted Abrams’
bid to become the nation’s first
black woman governor against
Kemp’s fierce effort to preserve his
overwhelmingly white party’s hold
on a diversifying Deep South state.
The after-effects, they say, won’t
easily dissipate.
“In the hypothetical scenario that
Brian Kemp becomes governor,”
said NAACP activist and former
congressional candidate Francys
Johnson, “then he and Donald
Trump will have both won because
they were able to stoke the deepest
darkest fears among their base. ”
Some Republicans acknowl
edge the atmosphere even as they
defend Kemp from charges he ran
a racially and culturally divisive
campaign. “Some of this is beyond
Brian Kemp’s control,” said Brian
Robinson, a former adviser for
outgoing Gov. Nathan Deal and
for Kemp’s vanquished GOP pri
mary rival. “Brian Kemp cannot
■ Please see GOVERNOR, 6A
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