About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 6, 2024)
Ukraine sends more drones, * missiles in new strategy against Russia. INSIDE,4A Sunday, January 7,20241 GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA I gainesvilletimes.com Driver sentenced to prison after fatal 2021 crash BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com A judge has sentenced a Buford man to 30 months in prison more than two years after a crash that killed a Flow ery Branch man and seriously injured another, according to court documents. Aaron Bartholomew Jones, 45, pleaded guilty to first- H degree vehicu lar homicide and other charges in a Dec. 18 plea. Superior Court Judge Kathlene Jones Gosselin sen tenced Jones to 15 years with the first 30 months in the Hall County Cor rectional Institute. The Hall County Jail listed Jones' expected release date as June 17, 2026, and Gosse lin allowed the remainder of the sentence to be on proba tion. The judge did, however, stipulate for two years on house arrest with a curfew. Jones was charged in the May 21, 2021, wreck on Blackjack Road that killed Edwin Manuel Landrau, Jr., 36, of Flowery Branch. Georgia State Patrol responded around 10:45 p.m. to Blackjack Road near Swansey Road for a single-vehicle wreck involving a 2018 Land Rover. Troopers said Jones went off the right shoulder of the road before striking a utility pole and a tree. Jones and two passengers were transported to North east Georgia Medical Center for injuries in the crash, and Landrau died from his injuries. Jones was charged by the dis trict attorney with three counts each of first-degree vehicular homicide and serious injury by See Jones 13A Seeking the truth Photos by Scott Rogers The Times Ricardo Paniagua enters Hall County Magistrate Court Friday, Jan. 5, for committal hearing for three counts each of aggravated sodomy, aggravated child molestation and child molestation. Investigator details case against Gainesville man accused of child molestation Hall County Sheriff’s Office Investigator Melissa Wood is questioned Friday, Jan. 5, in Hall County Magistrate Court during a committal hearing for Ricardo Paniagua. BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com Late last year, a 20-year-old woman went to meet with her church elders. The woman told Hall County Sher iff's Office Investigator Melissa Wood that when you sin in her faith of being a Jehovah's Witness, it was customary to meet with the elders. The subject of the conversation was the woman being pregnant and in a relationship with a man, to whom she was not married. “While speaking to the church elders about this, something that she had said to them made them question if some thing had ever happened to her when she was younger," Wood testified at a Magistrate Court hearing. The woman ultimately disclosed she had been molested as a child, and two other young women later reported similar allegations involving the same man. Ricardo Paniagua, 57, appeared Fri day, Jan. 5, in Magistrate Court with his attorney, Blake Poole, for a prob able cause hearing. The Gainesville man was charged Dec. 13 with three counts each of aggravated sodomy, aggravated child molestation and child molestation. The allegations happened between July 2008 and August 2014 when the three girls were between the ages of 5 and 7, according to Wood's testimony and warrants. Paniagua was arrested in December after the Sheriff's Office began inves tigating one month prior. Wood detailed the allegations against Paniagua in a hearing lasting almost 90 minutes Friday, with Paniagua being assisted by Poole and an interpreter. The woman who made the initial outcry described Paniagua touching and kissing her as well as other sexual acts, according to Wood's testimony. “There was a mirror on the head- board, and everything that he did to her, he made her watch through this mirror,” Wood said. Another 20-year-old woman told the investigator she was touched fewer than 10 times when she was 7. A 16-year-old girl was forensi- cally interviewed at the Edmond son Telford Child Advocacy Center, where she recounted sleeping over at the Paniagua home when she was in kindergarten. The 16-year-old told the interviewer See Paniagua 13A Beloved holly tree could be moved, but at a costly price BY JEFF GILL jgill@gainesvilletimes.com A beloved Gainesville holly tree may not be spared as part of road con struction, but it may live on at another location. “The arborist has said it is a very, very healthy holly tree,” said Mike McGraw, immediate past president of the Rotary Club of Gainesville, which maintains the 40-foot tree. “We are very confident it can be moved.” Details are still being worked out, including location and costs, and could be released soon, he said. “Myself and other Rotarians, along with city officials, are going to do everything we can to save that tree,” McGraw said. “There’s a path.” Initial cost estimates run between $125,000 and $150,000, he said. “We’ll do whatever it takes to get this moved,” McGraw said. “If there’s a dollar value and it can be raised, it’s going to get raised. Everybody will have a chance to contribute.” He added: “We’re willing to do everything possible to keep positive and keep more Christmases in that tree.” Gainesville's annual Christmas on Green Street closes with the annual lighting of the Rotary Tree. The triangle in which the holly tree grows is officially known as the Mary John Dunlap Mitchell Park as dedi cated by the Gainesville Garden Club in 1934. The club maintained the park for many years. Gainesville Rotary took over nurturing the holly tree and lighting it with the help of city offi cials since 1982. See Holly 13A Scott Rogers The Times Traffic moves past the large holly tree Wednesday, Jan. 25, at the intersection of E.E. Butler Parkway and West Academy Street in Gainesville. Proposals for 40 homes, car wash get initial OK in Flowery Branch BY JEFF GILL jgill@gainesvilletimes.com A proposal for 40 single-family homes near downtown Flowery Branch was given initial approval Thursday, Jan. 4, by Flowery Branch City Council. Peachtree Corners-based Edge City Properties is seeking to build the development at 5416 and 5408 Gainesville St., across from the Flowery Branch Masonic Lodge 212 and just a few blocks from Main Street. The neighborhood would have two-story homes, a pocket park and green space for the residents, according to Flowery Branch documents. Homes could be priced at $600,000 on the 14-acre site, which now “has a residential home with the remaining portion being mostly pasture,” documents state. “The site is bordered by the Old Town character area to the south which encourages higher den sities to support the downtown revitalization,” documents state. “A more dense residential hous ing supply will provide critical economic support to downtown shops and restaurants.” A final vote will be taken at a later meeting. Here's a look at other actions taken by City Council: Carwash approved at busy intersection A car wash proposed on the site of a storage development near one of Flowery Branch's busiest inter sections was given first approval. The business would be at 4728 and 4734 Hog Mountain Road, next to McDonald's restaurant, across from Walgreens pharmacy and near Spout Springs Road. The car wash would have a See Flowery Branch 13A
