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Invaders from underground
are coming in 'cicada-geddon.'
It’s the biggest bug emergence
in centuries, inside,3a
Tuesday, April 2,20241 GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA I gainesvilletimes.com
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Alex Murdaugh gets 40
years in federal prison.
INSIDE, 4A
Honestly Local
Woman charged with murder in son’s overdose
Sosebee
BY NICK WATSON
nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com
A Gainesville mom was
charged with murder after
her 13-year-old son died
from a fentanyl and xyla-
zine overdose in June,
according to authorities.
Holly Deanna Sosebee, 30,
was charged with second-
degree murder and second-
degree child cruelty. She was
booked Friday, March 29,
in to the Hall County Jail,
where she remains with no
bond.
The Hall County Sheriff's
Office began investigating
after Landon Nicholas Sose
bee, 13, was found dead June
8, 2023, in his Lee Street
home.
Because of his age, Sos-
ebee's body was sent to the
Georgia Bureau of Investiga
tion crime lab for an autopsy.
The autopsy determined
Landon's cause of death
was “combined toxic effects
of fentanyl and xylazine,”
according to the Sheriff's
Office.
“The investigation deter
mined the illegal narcot
ics belonged to his mother,
and she had left them in an
unsecured area where they
were easily accessible to the
victim," the Sheriff's Office
wrote in a news release.
While murder carries a
life sentence with at least 30
years before parole eligibil
ity, second-degree murder
has a mandatory minimum
prison sentence of 10 years
but does not exceed 30 years.
Out like a light
Photos by Scott Rogers The Times
Viewers watch in awe Monday, Aug. 21, 2017, at Sam Pitts Park in Clarkesville seconds before totality dur
ing the Total Eclipse of the Park viewing party.
Here’s what to expect during the solar eclipse
BY BEN ANDERSON
banderson@gainesvilletimes.com
In North Georgia, you
may not get to experience a
total solar eclipse when the
moon passes between the
sun and the Earth on April
8, but that doesn't mean you
can't share in the wonder of
the universe.
Georgia is well outside
the path of totality, where
the moon's shadow com
pletely covers the sun, but
Gainesville, for instance,
will still see a peak coverage
of about 82% at 3:06 p.m.,
according to NASA.
That’s “decent coverage”
for a partial eclipse, said
Lesley Simanton-Coogan,
the director of the Univer
sity of North Georgia's
planetarium in Dahlonega.
But, she said, partial
eclipses are never as cool as
the full thing.
“If people aren't looking
for it, they might not notice
it's happening because it'll
probably just look kind of
like a cloudy day,” she said.
But word to the wise,
that doesn't mean you don't
need to wear protective
glasses if you plan on taking
a peak. Staring at an eclipse
even for just a few seconds
can permanently damage
your retinas and leave you
with a blurry pen-sized spot
in your vision.
If you want a free pair of
glasses and want to learn
more about solar eclipses,
you're in luck. UNG's plan
etarium has been holding
two shows every Friday
evening up until the eclipse.
Each show has a runtime
of 40-50 minutes, and seat
ing capacity is limited to
46 people. You will need to
book your spot on UNG's
website.
“Eclipse: All about the
Sun and Moon” is held at
6:30 p.m., and “Einstein and
Eclipses” is held at 8 p.m.
At the earlier show,
Simanton-Coogan said,
“we’re gonna watch a video
about eclipses that tells us
how they happen, and then I
fly people out through space
with the system to visit the
moon and the sun. It’s a
little bit better for a younger
audience, but I think adults
still enjoy it too.” The later
show is geared more toward
adults and focuses on the
solar eclipse in 1919 “that
actually launched Einstein
into fame,” she said. “So I
talk all about some of Ein
stein's work and why this
eclipse mattered and how it
all applies to astronomy.”
A total solar eclipse
occurs when the moon
lines up perfectly between
the Earth and the sun, blot
ting out the sunlight. The
115-mile-wide path of
totality will slice a diagonal
line from the southwest to
the northeast across North
America, briefly plung
ing communities along the
track into darkness.
How briefly? The peak
spectacle will last up to 4
minutes, 28 seconds in the
path of totality — twice
as long as the total solar
eclipse that dimmed the
nation's skies in 2017.
An estimated 32 million
Americans live inside the
path of totality, which will
enter over Mexico's Pacific
coast, snake up through
Texas and Oklahoma, and
crisscross the Midwest,
mid-Atlantic and New Eng
land, before exiting over
eastern Canada into the
Atlantic.
The U.S. won't see
another total solar eclipse
that spans from coast to
coast until 2045.
Scientists got a taste of
what's to come during the
2017 total solar eclipse that
stretched from Oregon to
South Carolina. This time,
the moon is closer to Earth,
resulting in more minutes of
darkness and a wider path.
Another scientific bonus
this time: The sun will be
just a year away from its
maximum solar activity, as
opposed to 2017 when it
was near its minimum. That
means lots more action at
the sun, possibly even a
coronal mass ejection, with
massive amounts of plasma
and magnetic field blasted
into space.
The Associated Press
contributed to this report.
Above bottom, University of North Georgia student
Rosie Reeves looks at the sun Aug. 20, 2017, in
Dahlonega during the university’s eclipse public
education event. Above top, Visitors got the chance
to view the sun through direct and indirect means
and get a pair of solar viewing glasses.
Final tract of land
secured for Sardis
Road Connector
BY JEFF GILL
jgill@gainesvilletimes.com
With all the needed property in hand, the long-awaited
Sardis Road Connector can move toward construction.
The last holdout was 0.22 acres owned by Corinth
Church at 3590 Thompson Bridge Road/Ga. 60. The Hall
County Board of Commissioners voted Thursday, March
28, to buy it for about $1.9 million.
“We are continuing to finalize the (right of way) certi
fication packet that will be turned over to GDOT, as well
as finalize the construction plans,” Hall spokeswoman Joy
Holmes said.
The Georgia Department of Transportation “will cer
tify the right of way and accept the site for roadway con
struction, and they will let (the project) and hopefully
construction starts shortly afterward,” County Engineer
Frank Miller has said.
Justin Lott of GDOT told a Hall transportation planning
committee in November that the project could go to bids
in July.
Road construction, costing about $48 million, could
take about two years to complete, officials have said.
The project consists of widening and rebuilding several
existing local roads with some new roadways, extend
ing northward from Sardis at Chestatee to Mount Vernon
Road at Ga. 60. The Mount Vernon Road/Ga. 60 intersec
tion would be rebuilt as part of the work.
The project would dodge a 2-acre cemetery off Mount
Vernon Road, across from Corinth Church and next to a
Kroger-anchored shopping center.
The Corinth property in the way of the connector was
an older part of the church campus — a yellowish brick
building that houses a sanctuary believed to have been
See Sardis 13A
Alto man gets
sentenced for 2023
drive-by shooting
BY NICK WATSON
nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com
An Alto man was sentenced to
prison time from an April 2023
drive-by shooting after an argu
ment at a Gainesville McDonald's,
according to court documents.
Zachary Gee, 20, pleaded guilty
March 11 to four counts of aggra
vated assault. Superior Court Judge
Lindsay Burton sentenced Gee to
40 years with the first eight years in
prison.
The Hall County Sheriff's Office said the incident
started around 10 p.m. April 17 at the Jesse Jewell
Parkway McDonald's, where Gee got into an argu
ment with another man.
The Sheriff's Office said Gee struck the man in
the head with a handgun, and the victim drove to his
home on Smallwood Road.
“Gee traveled to the victim's residence,” Sheriff's
Office spokeswoman BJ Williams wrote in an email
at the time of Gee's arrest. “When other occupants
of the residence confronted him, Gee got into his
vehicle and circled the neighborhood. Gee fired mul
tiple shots at the home as the car left the area.”
No injuries were reported.
The Times has reached out to the district attorney's
office for information on the preceding argument.
The judge ordered for Gee to complete the Reen
try Accountability Court Transition program and
if accepted attend the residential substance abuse
treatment program.
If Gee completes the accountability court pro
gram, he will not be required to perform 100 hours
of community service nor will he undergo drug and
alcohol testing.
Gee was also ordered to pay $2,950 in fines and
surcharges.
Defense attorney Kyle Denslow declined to
comment.
Gee
