Newspaper Page Text
March 16, 2022
m
Reporter
Page 3A
Man gets 16 years prison
for killing Forsyth man
By Will Davis
publisher™ my mcr.net
A Decatur man was
sentenced to serve
16 years in prison on
Monday for shooting and
killing a Forsyth man on
the side of Hwy. 42 south
in 2020.
Wendell Scott, 40, was
sentenced to 20 years in
prison with 16 to serve
plus an additional 10 years
of probation after plead
ing guilty to voluntary
manslaughter and pos
session of a firearm by a
convicted felon in Monroe
County Superior Court on
Monday, March 7. Judge
Tommy Wilson signed off
on the plea deal. Scott shot
Michael High of Forsyth in
the forehead in a roadside
dispute that included 28
year old Cierra Bell of
Decatur. Scott claimed
it was self-defense, but
assistant district attorney
Dorothy Hull said they’re
still not entirely sure how it
happened. High died at the
scene.
It apparently started the
night of Aug. 29,2020
when Highs girlfriend,
Cierra Bell, called High
and asked him to come
from Forsyth to pick her
SCOTT
HIGH
up in Oglethorpe, Ga.
where she was gambling
with Scott.
Bell and Scott had differ
ing stories about what hap
pened next, sheriff Brad
Freeman told the Reporter.
One said that High went
and picked up Bell from
Oglethorpe and on their
way back to Forsyth, they
had a verbal altercation.
The other says High never
made it to Oglethorpe and
that she rode with Scott.
Here’s what the sheriff
thinks happened: Bell was
driving High’s car and they
got into an argument. She
pulled over and got out on
Hwy. 42 just after midnight
and began to walk back to
Forsyth and High stayed
in the car on the side of the
road. A few minutes later,
Scott drove past High and
came across Bell walking.
Scott pulled over to ask Bell
if she needed a ride back
to Decatur. Bell and Scott
Amidst losses,
conference center
eyes new manager
By Will Davis
publisher@mymcr.net
Monroe County’s Con
ference Center is looking
for a new manager as it
aims to reverse losses of
$217,000 largely due to
COVID over the past two
years.
Tammie Pierson re
signed at the end of Febru
ary after just 8 months
on the job. She had been
hired to replace the late
Karrine Flemming, who
passed away after leading
the conference center since
Monroe County commis
sioners bought the facility
from hotelier Sam Patel for
$940,000 in 2014. Pierson
reportedly left to travel out
west.
With the COVID panic
finally subsiding, reserva
tions have been up and
the Conference Center
has actually made about
$2,000 so far in 2022, with
$36,000 in revenue and
about $34,000 in expenses,
according to figures pro
vided by the county.
With many meet
ings cancelled or moved
online, the last two years
have been a struggle. In
2020, the county reported
$193,615 in expenses and
just $28,709 in revenue,
for a loss of more than
$160,000. The center
only showed slight im
provement in 2021, with
$66,869 in revenue and
$123,569 in expenses, for
a loss of $57,000. Even
before COVID, in 2019,
the Center lost $42,000.
That’s a total of $260,000
in losses since 2019.
While commissioners
look for a new manager,
banquet manager Sandra
PIERSON
Sego has been handling
reservations and running
the center. The county
budgets two full time posi
tions for the Conference
Center, about $45,000 per
year for the manager’s po
sition and about $27,300
for the event coordinator.
The Conference Center
has 9,696 square feet of
meeting space and aver
aged 12 events per month
when it was bought in
2014.
stood outside the car
on the shoulder talking
when High caught up
to them and hit Scott’s
vehicle in the rear.
High’s vehicle went off
the road to the opposite
side into the ditch. Au
thorities say it’s not clear
whether High intention
ally rammed Scott’s car or
hit it accidentally. Freeman
notes that the road is dark
at night and that the car
was parked in a curve and
partially in the road, sup
porting a possible accident.
One car was a Chevy
Malibu and one was a Lin
coln. High had just gotten
early release from prison
after serving two years for
a drug charge. Scott had
a previous statutory rape
conviction.
High then left his car,
walked back up to Hwy.
42 and began to aggres
sively approach Scott. Scott
then shot High once in
the forehead with a 9 mm
pistol. Freeman said the re
sulting scene was “horrific”.
High was unarmed.
“It was a little bizarre,”
said coroner Joey Proctor.
Deputies found the 9 mm
Glock in the woods. The
two suspects were arrested
at the scene and could not
flee as both vehicles were
inoperable, said Freeman.
Evidence tampering charg
es against both were later
dropped, and Bell faced
no charges. Scott had been
in the Monroe County
Jail since the incident, and
will soon be taken to state
prison.
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CORRECTION
An article in the March 9
Reporter, “MP Game Day
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