Newspaper Page Text
November 17, 2021
Page 7A
■ Reporter
TRAIN
Continued from 1A
Buffington said he planned to try
to push Hall out of the car but by
now the train was 25
yards away. Burkett
yelled at Buffington
to jump quickly as he
picked up Treadwell
to try to carry her to
safety Buffington said
because she was 93
Burkett was trying to
be careful, and was
carrying her like some
one carries a wounded
soldier. Buffington said
he leaped to get out
of the way and by the
time he could look up, the train
had made impact.
“If he had two more seconds I
think he would’ve made it,” said
Buffington. “He was a brave soul
that night.”
Buffington said he guesses they
only had about 45 seconds at the
car before the train struck.
Burkett and Buffing
ton helped keep the
farm for the Treadwell
family, which has owned
and operated a number
of successful Forsyth
businesses in the last 50
years, including the for
mer Holiday Inn. Both
men also worked with
Jim Smarr at Diversified
Fabricators on Collier
Road. Smarr said Bur
kett wouldn’t have done
it any other way than to give his
life trying to help someone else.
“He could have walked away’
said Smarr. “But you had to know
Chris. That was not his nature.”
Smarr said he worked with
Burkett for 20 years and called
him a hard worker who was loyal
to his friends.
“That’s what kind of guy he re
ally was,” said Smarr. “He would
bend over backwards to help
anybody anytime.
“He would complain about it,”
laughed Smarr, “but he would do
it.”
It had been a tumultuous final
two years for Burkett. As the
Treadwells have needed more
help on the farm, Burkett moved
into a studio apartment in the
hangar by the Treadwell air strip
in early 2020. Then in April 2020
a tornado hit the hangar. Monroe
County deputies and firefight
ers had to pull Burkett from the
wreckage of the destroyed build
ing.
“Nobody should’ve survived
that,” sheriff Brad Freeman said of
the tornado. “Nobody’’
Burkett told the Reporter at the
time that the deputies were his
heroes, and was thrilled when
his beloved heeler and Maltese,
Kiah and Lucy, were found after
they had gone missing during the
tornado. Smarr said Kiah, who
Burkett called his best friend,
even had her own couch in their
break room at work.
“It was a hell of a night but as
we all know after Kiah emerged,
nothing else mattered. I have
been blessed to survive the worst
night of my life,” Burkett told the
Reporter in April 2020.
Months later Burkett would
have another miracle when he
found his sister that he had never
met, Angie Brown. She lives in
North Carolina and they had
become close. Brown is taking
custody of her brother’s beloved
dogs.
Smarr said their last conversa
tion was as Burkett left work
at Diversified on Wednesday
afternoon. Burkett owned up to
the fact that he owed Smarr a can
of dip snuff.
Smarr said he feels so bad for
Buffington, who’s never seen
anything like the trauma he saw
on Wednesday. But Buffington
said he’s doing pretty good and
back at work.
“What Chris would want me to
do is move on,” said Buffington.
“His sister told me that Chris
would want someone to fill his
shoes. It won’t be easy. He was a
living legend.”
BUFFINGTON
SWANCEY
Continued from 1A
Swancey, Swancey was on his
way to Mary Persons head
ing west on Juliette Road on
Friday morning around 7:30
a.m. when he lost control
near the intersection of Holly
Grove Road. The sheriff’s of
fice said he left the road, then
over-corrected, went down a
bank and truck a tree.
Coroner Joey Proctor
said he thinks Swancey was
ejected out of the driver’s side
door, which was torn off. The
sheriff’s office said he wasn’t
wearing a seat belt.
Sadly Caden is the second
catcher that MP baseball has
lost in two years. Dillon Mc
Coy, another member of the
class of2022, was killed last
June in a wreck on Hwy. 42.
Mary Persons baseball
coach Clae Mathis posted
on Facebook that he was
devastated.
“No part of coach
ing can prepare you
on how to deal with
the loss of a player,”
said Mathis. “It’s
heartbreaking to say
this time around I
have experience, but it
doesn’t help. Baseball
is the least of impor
tance in my relation
ship with these guys,
it’s just how I meet
them. Caden Swancey
was my guy. I’ve gone
to war with him, for
him, and about him.
He was Mary Persons
Baseball’s heart and
soul. We were always
thankful that he was
on our side. Today
has been unbeliev
ably difficult, and the days to
come will be just as difficult.
Please pray for his parents
and his siblings, pray for his
teammates, his
friends, and
everyone who
knew him. On
days like today
I am reminded
that noth
ing is more
important
than to know
Jesus. Please
if you don’t
know Him,
call someone
who can help
you. If you
don’t know
anyone call
me. Caden,
we will miss
you, everyone
who knew
you loved you.
I’ll love you
forever number 6.”
MP principal Jim Finch
agreed, telling the Reporter:
“We’re absolutely heart
broken about Caden. He
was well liked by everyone
at Mary Persons. He was
100% MP. Whether you’re a
principal or a coach, Caden
was considered a first round
pick, a teammate you’d love
to have, and an opponent
you’d hate to face. He was one
of a kind and we’re certainly
going to miss him.”
At the vigil on Monday,
Causey said he will miss his
teammate and fellow senior.
“He was extremely smart
and passionate,” said Causey,
“I’m glad I got to call him my
friend.”
Funeral services were
expected to be held at 3 p.m.
Saturday at First Baptist
Church in Forsyth. The fam
ily is asking everyone to dress
casually in black and gold,
just as Caden would want it.
Caden Swancey,
above, with a
baseball face
painting at the
2014 Forsythia
Festival, and at left
applying the tag as
the MP catcher in
April. (File photos/
John Belknap and
Will Davis)
REECE
Continued from 1A
around us. As a result, it is
important to note in certain
very limited circumstances,
it is the right of a private
person, acting upon a rea
sonable and probable ground
of suspicion, to apprehend a
felon under the doctrine of
citizen’s arrest.”
The encounter happened
on the morning of Nov. 6,
2019 when Justin Donley,
now 28, entered the Rumble
Road BP after being at-large
all night despite a manhunt.
Adams noted that Donley,
who filed for the warrant for
Reece’s arrest, is alleged to
have committed aggravated
assault against law enforce
ment by shooting at pursu
ing deputies hours before
his encounter with Reece.
Adams noted that Donley
is also charged with fleeing
or attempting to elude law
enforcement, trafficking
methamphetamine, traffick
ing cocaine, and violation of
the street gang terrorism and
prevention act.
‘Although [Donley] re
mains innocent of all charges
until proven guilty, law
enforcement did inform Mr.
Reece of these charges with
the applicant’s identifying
information,” wrote Adams.
‘Additionally, law enforce
ment informed Mr. Reece
the applicant may be in the
area and was considered
armed and dangerous.”
Adams said Reece had a
right to try to detain Donley
under the 2019 version of
Georgia citizens arrest law
(O.C.G.A. §17-4-60). Adams
said before the citizens arrest
law was changed in 2020 in
the aftermath of the Ahmaud
Arbery case, a private citizen
had as much power to arrest
a fugitive felon, where the
emergency called for im
mediate action, as a public
officer. Adams cited Croom
v. State, 85 Ga. 718 as giving
Reece the same protection
as law enforcement. Adams
said the case Prayor v. State,
214 Ga. App. 132 allowed
Reece to use deadly force in
effecting an arrest limited
to a situation in which it is
necessary to prevent a forc
ible felony.
“In this case,” said Adams,
“a reasonable person could
conclude the applicant would
continue to commit forcible
felonies such as aggravated
assault during his attempt
to evade law enforcement. It
is, therefore, my decision to
dismiss all charges against
Mr. Stephen Reece.”
Donley faces up to 70 years
in prison at trial, currently
set for December, for al
legedly firing three rounds
at Monroe County deputy
Christian Sawley during a
chase on 1-75 south. Here’s
what the sheriff’s report said
happened on Nov. 5,2019:
Donley was the passenger in
a 2013 Lincoln sedan fleeing
Sawley. Donley’s bullets hit
Sawley’s patrol car but the
chase continued around 8:15
p.m. The driver, Eugene
Wilson, 25, of Covington,
exited into the 1-75 rest area,
wrecked in some trees, and
the two fled on foot. Depu
ties found cocaine, meth and
scales inside the vehicle. The
sheriff’s office alerted the
community that two violent,
armed men were at large,
and area residents lit up yards
and remained on high alert.
Deputies captured an armed
Wilson just after midnight
at the corner of Hwy. 41 and
Pea Ridge Road.
After an all-night search,
at about 8:20 a.m. on Nov. 6,
Donley entered the Rumble
Road BP station off 1-75 and
walked up to the counter to
buy a Powerade. The sheriff’s
office had just called the store
and warned the clerk, Reece,
that the wanted suspect
maybe in the area. Reece
recognized Donley’s heavily
tattooed face from Facebook
and confronted the suspect at
gunpoint after Donley asked
Reece to call him a taxi. After
Reece ordered Donley to the
floor, Donley squatted down
before running out the door.
As Donley exited the store,
Reece fired several warning
shots with his 9 mm pistol
into the air and in a fleeing
Donley’s direction before
notifying nearby deputies
that Donley had re-entered
the woods to the east of the
store.
After leaving the store,
Donley tried to wave down a
driver on Jenkins Road, but
she recognized him as well
and a driver behind her did
too, and fired his own shot
at Donley. Monroe County
deputies arrived soon after
and arrested Donley. Donley
has been arrested 28 times
and was convicted in 2013
and 2014 on forgery, posses
sion of tools for a crime and
drug charges. He also has
multiple probation violation
charges.
Reece now works for this
newspaper.
Reece’s attorney Dustin
Buttigieg said the system
worked; “I believe the sher
iff’s office made the right call
in 2019 when they decided
not to pursue charges against
Reece. Two years later, when
Donley filed his application
for warrants against Reece,
Judge Sosebee took the case
head-on and simply applied
the law in a case where the
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outcome was unpopular,
but probably correct. Many
didn’t understand it only
takes probable cause for a
warrant to be issued. And
it doesn’t take very much
to show probable cause.
Additionally, most of Reece’s
justification defenses weren’t
applicable at the warrant
phase. Finally, I think the
District Attorney’s Office
exercised sound judgment
after reviewing the case and
ultimately dismissing all
charges against Mr. Reece
this week. So across the
board, at all different stages,
the process worked. And I’m
glad because my father really
likes Reece’s articles. It was a
pleasure helping Reece out.”
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