LOCATSOUTHEAST
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
Tuesday, December 11,2018 7A
CHARLOTESVILLE, VA.
No sentence yet for man who rammed rally crowd
Local activists raise their fists outside Charlottesville General
District Court after a guilty verdict was reached in the trial of
James Alex Fields Jr., in Charlottesville, Va., Friday, Dec. 7.
BY DENISE LAVOIE
Associated Press
Jurors considering the
punishment for a man who
drove his car into counterpro
testers during a white nation
alist rally heard emotional
testimony Monday from a
mother who described the
pain caused by her daugh
ter’s death and a psycholo
gist who described the man’s
long history of mental health
problems.
James Alex Fields Jr. faces
up to life in prison for the
death of Heather Heyer and
injuries he caused to dozens
of other counterprotesters.
Jurors deliberated on a
sentencing recommendation
for just under two hours Mon
day before adjourning. Delib
erations will resume Tuesday
morning.
Fields’ lawyers argued that
he acted in self-defense and
out of fear when he rammed
his car into a crowd in Char
lottesville during a “Unite the
Right” rally on Aug. 12,2017.
Prosecutors called Heyer’s
mother and several people
who were severely injured
to testify about the impact his
crimes had on them. Heyer,
32, was a paralegal and civil
rights activist.
“She was full of love, she
was full of justice, she was full
of fairness, and Mr. Fields
tried to silence that with
his car, but I refuse to allow
that,” said Susan Bro, Heyer’s
mother.
Jurors on Friday convicted
Fields of first-degree murder
and other charges. Judge
Richard Moore will formally
sentence Fields. Judges in
Virginia often impose the
sentence recommended by
juries.
Under the law, the jury can
recommend from 20 years
to life in prison on the first-
degree murder charge and
each of five charges of aggra
vated malicious wounding.
He also faces five to 20 years
on three counts of malicious
wounding, and up to 10 years
on one count of leaving the
scene of an accident.
Bro said her daughter’s
death has been like “an
explosion in our family. “We
are forever scarred by the
pain,” she said.
Jeanne “Star” Peterson
said her life has been “a liv
ing nightmare” since she was
hit by Fields’ car. Her right
leg was shattered, and she’s
had five surgeries to try to
repair it. She also suffered a
broken spine and still hasn’t
been able to return to work.
“I will be dealing with the
aftermath of Fields’ choices
for the rest of my life,” Peter
son said.
Fields, 21, drove to Vir
ginia from his home in
Maumee, Ohio, to support
the white nationalists. After
the rally, as a large group of
counterprotesters marched
through Charlottesville sing
ing and laughing, he stopped
his car, backed up, then sped
into the crowd, according to
testimony from witnesses
and video surveillance shown
to jurors.
Wednesday Bowie, a coun
terprotester who got caught
STEVE HELBER I Associated Press
on the trunk of Fields’ car
when he backed up and was
then slammed into a parked
truck and thrown to the
ground, told the jury that in
addition to a broken pelvis
and other physical injuries,
she has been hospitalized
three times for post-trau
matic stress disorder over the
past year.
She told the jury: “Please
know that the world is not a
safe place with Mr. Fields in
it.”
Testifying for the defense,
University of Virginia School
of Medicine professor and
psychologist Daniel Murrie
told the jury that while Fields
was not legally insane at the
time, he has a long history of
mental health issues.
Fields had inexplicable
volatile outbursts as a young
child and was diagnosed
with bipolar disorder at age
6, Murrie said. He was later
diagnosed with schizoid per
sonality disorder.
Murrie said Fields went off
his psychiatric medication at
age 18 and built an isolated
“lifestyle centered around
being alone.”
A video of Fields shown to
the jury during the first phase
of the trial showed him sob
bing and hyperventilating
after he was told a woman
had died and others were
seriously injured.
Fields’ lawyer Denise Lun
sford called him a “mentally
compromised individual”
and urged the jury to con
sider his long history of
mental health issues when
considering a sentence.
Prosecutors told the jury
during his trial that Fields
was angry after witness
ing violent clashes between
the two sides earlier in the
day. The violence prompted
police to shut down the rally
before it even officially
began. The trial also featured
emotional testimony from
survivors.
The Unite the Right
rally had been organized in
part to protest the planned
removal of a statue of Con
federate Gen. Robert E. Lee.
Hundreds of Ku Klux Klan
members, neo-Nazis and
other white nationalists —
emboldened by the election
of President Donald Trump
— streamed into the college
town for one of the largest
gatherings of white suprem
acists in a decade. Some
dressed in battle gear.
Afterward, Trump
inflamed tensions even fur
ther when he said “both
sides” were to blame, a com
ment some saw as a refusal to
condemn racism.
According to one of his
former teachers, Fields
was known in high school
for being fascinated with
Nazism and idolizing Adolf
Hitler. Jurors were shown
a text message he sent to
his mother days before the
rally that included an image
of the notorious German
dictator. When his mother
pleaded with him to be care
ful, he replied: “we’re not
the one (sic) who need to be
careful.”
COLUMBIA, S.C.
Lawmakers consider changes to moving mental patients
Associated Press
A group of South Carolina
senators reviewing state laws on
handling patients who doctors or
judges decide need immediate
mental health treatment wants
to have proposed changes to the
laws ready when the Legislature
returns next month.
Among the changes being con
sidered after two mental patients
drowned while locked in the back
of a Horry County sheriff’s van
during Hurricane Florence are
requiring doctors and others to
tell friends and family members
they can take the patients to treat
ment themselves if they accept
responsibility.
Family members of Wendy
Newton and Nicolette Green said
they weren’t given that option. The
two women drowned after the van
they were in flipped on its side in
rising flood waters, blocking the
only door two deputies had a key
to unlock.
Emergency crews could not get
equipment to cut through the metal
before the waters slowly engulfed
the van.
The van drove around barri
cades blocking highways in danger
of being undermined or flooding,
authorities said. The two deputies
were fired and a criminal investi
gation continues.
The subcommittee is also con
sidering additional training and
a requirement to create special
teams like Charleston County’s
Therapeutic Transportation Unit,
which evaluates patients with doc
tors and does not transport them in
obvious police vehicles, said Sen.
Marlon Kimpson, the Charleston
Democrat leading the panel.
Monday’s hearing included
testimony on the lack of avail
able space to treat mental health
patients who need 24-hour care,
especially in rural areas and con
cerns that a dwindling number
of psychiatrists in South Carolina
means inadequate treatment even
for the patients who are admitted.
Senators also heard from Linda
Green, the mother of Nicolette
Green. She asked if they could
require including a health pro
vider — nurse, doctor or trained
emergency medical technician
— along with officers when they
transport mental patients.
She also said - if they did any
thing - they should ban the use of
police vans with all metal cages
inside to transport nonviolent
mental patients who have not been
charged with any crimes.
That kind of transportation
leaves patients feeling like they
are criminals and making the men
tal problems they are already deal
ing with worse, Linda Green said.
“There has to be something
more available to transport non
violent mentally ill patients than a
dog cage,” she said.
OBITUARIES
Denice Lynn Hamby
Died Dec. 8, 2018
Services for Denice Lynn
Hamby, 46, of Gainesville
will be held Wednesday,
Dec. 12, 2018, at 11 a.m.
in the chapel of Ward’s
Funeral Home. The Rev.
James Barber will officiate.
Interment will follow at New
Hope Baptist Church Cem
etery in Dawsonville. The
family will receive friends
from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tues
day at the funeral home.
Mrs. Hamby died Saturday,
Dec. 8, 2018.
A native of Hall County,
Mrs. Hamby was preceded
in death by her parents, Ray
and Sue (Eller) Gooch, and
grandchildren, Jeremiah
Hamby and Destiny Moses.
Survivors include hus
band, David Hamby; daugh
ter and son-in-law, Jessica
and Rodney Collett, Gills-
ville; son and daughter-in-
law, Justice and Tabitha
Hamby, Gainesville; step
children, Jennifer Hamby,
Cairo, Ga., Josh and Emma
Hamby, Wetumpka, Ala.;
brother and sister-in-law,
Jason and Margaret Gooch,
Gainesville; grandchildren,
Morgan Collett, Luke Col
lett, Carley Hamby, Carter
Hamby, Faith Moses, Tay
lor Palmer, Bryce Palmer,
Josiah Hamby, Samuel
Hamby and Lydia Hamby;
several aunts, uncles, nieces
and nephews.
Online condolences may
be sent to wardsfh.com.
Ward’s Funeral Home,
Gainesville
Sign the online guest book
at gainesvilletimes.com.
The Times, Gainesville, Ga.
Dec. 11,2018
Laurence
0’Hear Howard Jr.
Died Dec. 7, 2018
Laurence O’Hear How
ard Jr. “Larry” of Waynes
boro, Va., (age 79) passed
away Friday, Dec. 7, 2018.
A1957 graduate of Lee H.
Edwards High School (now
Asheville High School) in
Asheville, N.C. A graduate
of Duke University in 1961.
Member of Theta Chi Fra
ternity. He also received his
MBA from the University
of Virginia Business School
(now Darden) and served
his country as a member of
the National Guard.
His entire career was
spent in the banking indus
try beginning with the Trust
Company of Georgia (now
SunTrust) as a manage
ment trainee. Later work
ing for Wachovia bank in
Winston Salem, N.C., where
he would also retire. Other
employers included Manu
facturers Hanover Trust
Company in New York
City (JPMorgan Chase),
Commerce Union Bank,
Nashville, Tenn. (Bank of
America), First American
Savings Bank, Greensboro,
N.C., and First National
Bank of Gainesville
(Regions Financial).
During retirement he
volunteered at the pub
lic library of Waynesboro
as a shelf-reader. Joined
the Friends of the Library
where he was a member
of the board and chaired
the volunteer committee.
He also volunteered at
Augusta Health as a patient
escort and chaired the
escort committee. He was
very passionate about land
conservation and enjoyed
spending time at his tree
farm in North Carolina.
He is preceded in death
by his parents Laurence
and Ernestine Howard and
his son Richard K. Linville.
He is survived by his wife
Vicki Howard of Waynes
boro, Va.; son, Laurence P.
Howard and wife Candice;
son, Thomas A. Howard
and wife Emmie; son, Jeff
Linville; daughter, Kristina
Cantrell; son, Jay Deinlein;
daughter Lisa Deinlein; sis
ter, Dorothy Roberts and
husband Don; grandchil
dren, Ben and Mimi Lin
ville and Isaiah and Jacob
Howard and Nichole and
William Marshall Deinlein;
nephew, Jonathan Rob
erts; and niece, Katherine
Roberts.
The family will be hold
ing a private memorial.
If desired friends may
make contributions to the
Waynesboro, Va., Public
Library, 600 S. Wayne Ave.,
Waynesboro, VA 22980 or
the Conservation Trust for
North Carolina, 1028 Wash
ington St., Raleigh, NC
27605.
McDow Funeral Home,
Waynesboro, Va.
Sign the online guest
book at gainesvilletimes.
com.
The Times, Gainesville, Ga.
Dec. 11, 2018
Charles T.
Westmoreland
June 4, 1936-Dec. 9, 2018
Charles T. Westmore
land, Bud, as he was known
to his family and friends,
was born to the late How
ard and Lillie (Nix) West
moreland on June 4, 1936.
He retired from Hanson
Aggregates and enjoyed
welding and working with
metal and breakfast every
Sunday with his brother
Johnny. He also followed in
his father and older broth
er’s footsteps by joining the
Army, as did his younger
brother.
He was preceded in
death by the love of his life,
Maggie Jeanette Loggins,
and daughter, Lydia Ann
Westmoreland.
He is survived by his
loving daughter, Tammy
Jean, and his grandson,
Ethan Durkas. He is also
survived by his brother,
William Westmoreland; his
brother and sister-in-law,
Johnny and Carolyn West
moreland; his sisters, Jean
Underwood, Patricia Butler
and Darlene Spencer. He
has many nieces and neph
ews and great-nieces and
great-nephews.
He was a quiet man and a
bit shy, but he had a strong
faith and an even stronger
love for his family. It is
hard to imagine our lives
without him, but it gives us
peace knowing he is with
his Jeanette, his Lydia and
his little dog Buddy. We all
love you very much and
will always miss you.
Funeral services are
scheduled for 11 a.m.
Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018,
from the chapel of Barrett
Funeral Home. The Rev.
Billy McKinney will offici
ate. Burial will follow in
Friendship Baptist Church
Cemetery.
The family will receive
friends from 2-5 p.m.
Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2018,
at the funeral home.
To share a memory or
leave a condolence with the
family, visit barrettfh.com.
Barrett Funeral Home,
Cleveland
Sign the online guest
book at gainesvilletimes.
com.
The Times, Gainesville, Ga.
Dec. 11,2018
DEATH
NOTICES
Joe Blackburn
Died Dec. 9, 2018
Joe Blackburn, 72, of Alto
died Sunday. Memorial ser
vice, 6-8 p.m. Wednesday,
Dec. 12, funeral home. Whit
field Funeral Home, South
Chapel, Baldwin.
William Eugene
Bradshaw
Died Dec. 8, 2018
William Eugene Brad
shaw, 60, of Bethlehem
died Saturday. Graveside
service, 11 a.m. Wednes
day, Dec. 12, Hydes Chapel
Baptist Church Cemetery,
Conyers. Lawson Funeral
Home, Hoschton.
Ralph Dalton
Oct. 17, 1931-Dec. 9, 2018
Ralph Dalton, 87, of Alto
died Sunday. Funeral ser
vice, 2 p.m. Wednesday,
Dec. 12, Line Baptist Church.
McGahee-Griffin & Stewart
Funeral Home, Cornelia.
Pamela Denise Davenport
March 31, 1959-
Dec. 9,2018
Pamela Denise Daven
port, 59, of Gainesville died
Sunday. Little & Davenport
Funeral Home and Crema
tory, Gainesville.
Phyllis Elaine
Thomason Fortner
Died Dec. 9, 2018
Phyllis Elaine Thoma
son Fortner, 63, of Royston
died Sunday. Funeral ser
vice, 2 p.m. Thursday, Dec.
13, funeral home. Evans
Funeral Home, Jefferson.
Paul F. Goodman
Died Dec. 6,2018
Paul F. Goodman, 87, of
Lawrenceville died Dec.
6. Funeral Mass, 10 a.m.
Wednesday, Dec. 12, St.
Marguerite d’Youville Cath
olic Church, Lawrenceville.
Hamilton Mill Memorial
Chapel, Buford.
Sandra Gail Kimbrell
Died Dec. 10,2018
Sandra Gail Kimbrell,
71, of Jefferson died Mon
day. Funeral service, 2 p.m.
Wednesday, Dec. 12, funeral
home chapel. Evans Funeral
Home, Jefferson.
Mona Sue Burnett Rowland
Feb. 6, 1936-Dec. 10, 2018
Mona Sue Burnett Row
land, 82, of Lawrenceville
died Monday. Funeral ser
vice, 11 a.m. Wednesday,
Dec. 12, funeral home cha
pel. Flanigan Funeral Home
and Crematory, Buford.
Ann Sherby
Died Dec. 8, 2018
Ann Sherby, 104, of
Gainesville died Saturday.
Graveside service, 2 p.m.
Wednesday, Dec. 12, Green
Lawn Cemetery, Roswell.
Little & Davenport Funeral
Home and Crematory,
Gainesville.
Ret. Tech Sgt.
Robert Mark Stewart
Oct. 9, 1961-Dec. 9, 2018
Ret. Tech Sgt. Robert Mark
Stewart, U.S. Air Force, 57, of
Buford died Sunday. Funeral
service, 1 p.m. Friday, Dec.
14, funeral home chapel.
Flanigan Funeral Home and
Crematory, Buford.
Jacklyn Estelle
Denise Tolbert
Died Dec. 7, 2018
Jacklyn Estelle Denise
Tolbert, infant, died Dec. 7.
Graveside service, 3 p.m.
Tuesday, Dec. 11, Memorial
Park South Cemetery. Memo
rial Park South Funeral
Home, Flowery Branch.
Lois Hill Walls
Died Dec. 10,2018
Lois Hill Walls, 86, of
Clarkesville died Monday.
McGahee-Griffin & Stewart
Funeral Home, Cornelia.
Margaret Edith Woodall
Feb. 1, 1935-Dec. 8, 2018
Margaret Edith Woodall,
83, of Gainesville died Sat
urday. Funeral service, 2
p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 11, Rock
Hill Congregational Holiness
Church. Little & Davenport
Funeral Home and Crema
tory, Gainesville.
INTRODUCING
Little & Davenport
Funeral Home
To inquire about pricing packages available to
memorialize a pet in print, please contact Megan Lewis
at 770-535-6371 or mlewis@gainesvilletimes.com
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the last Sunday of each month.
