14-Year-Old Sought in Fatal Shooting

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Tuesday, June 18, 2024

Tifton, Georgia

Your Local Digital Newspaper for Tifton and the Greater Tiftarea

478-227-7126 ~ www.tiftongrapevine.com

14-YEAR-OLD WANTED IN FATAL SHOOTING OF 16-YEAR-OLD

Tifton Grapevine Staff Reports

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) is searching for a 14-year-old boy in connection with the shooting death of a 16-year-old girl in Sylvester during the weekend.

The GBI says it has obtained arrest warrants for Kortezz Thomas, 14, of Sylvester, in the death of Ke’aisa Young, 16.

As of Tuesday, GBI agents were still searching for the suspect, who was on the run.

At about 11:15 p.m. Saturday, Sylvester Police were called to the 200 block of Shipp Lane, where they found Young suffering from a gunshot wound. Young was visiting friends when the shooting occurred, authorities said.

Young’s body was taken to the GBI Crime Lab for an autopsy.

On Monday, authorities were searching the vicinity of the shooting with a K-9 unit and drones. Sylvester Police had called in the GBI to help investigate.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the GBI Regional Investigative Office in Sylvester at 229-777-2080, or the Sylvester Police Department at 229-776-8501.

Anonymous tips may be submitted by calling 1-800-597-TIPS (8477), online here, or by downloading the See Something, Send Something mobile app.

Once the investigation is complete, the case file will be given to the Tift Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office for review and prosecution.

HAPPY JUNETEENTH! TIFTON CELEBRATIONS CONTINUE

By FRANK SAYLES JR.

Tifton Grapevine

Wednesday, June 19, is Juneteenth, a federal holiday commemorating the actual ending of slavery in the United States.

Federal, state, city, and county offices are closed, as well as banks and many other offices.

It is also a day of celebration across the United States, including in Tifton, where the annual Juneteenth Parade begins at 10 a.m. at Community Mortuary, 102 West 13½ St. in Tifton, and continues to the Tift County Courthouse.

Organized by Dee & Doc Melton Sr. Cultural Visions, the parade culminates with a presentation by Tifton Mayor Julie B. Smith and Rue'nette Melton, the Campbell Visions Praise Dancers, a keynote speech by the Rev. Terrance Singleton, and the releasing of balloons.

The local Juneteenth celebration continues on Saturday with the 14th Annual Dee & Doc Melton Sr. Cultural Humanitarian/Juneteenth Ball at 5:30 p.m. at the Hilton Garden Inn in Tifton. The dinner includes several award presentations, including a scholarship, and music by The Kollective Band.

Juneteenth marks the nation’s second independence day. Although it has long been celebrated in the black community, the event until recent years was largely unknown to many Americans.

Its origins are in the Civil War era. The Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 ending slavery was not recognized in Confederate states. Thus, slavery wasn't ended in the entire United States until after the Civil War.

Enslaved people in the western-most Confederate state of Texas were not told of their freedom until June 19, 1865, when 2,000 Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay and announced that the more than 250,000 slaves in Texas were free by executive decree.

That day of freedom, June 19, came to be known as "Juneteenth" through the years.

TURNER COUNTY GETTING

STATE GRANT FOR EMERGENCY BACKUP POWER

Tifton Grapevine Staff Reports

Turner County is one of 43 local governments across Georgia receiving part of a $19.5 million state grant providing emergency backup power for critical facilities.

The Hazard Mitigation Grant Program under the Georgia Emergency Management Agency & Homeland Security Agency aims to help local governments with their preparedness and resilience to natural hazards.

The grant will fund the purchase and installation of such items as fixed and portable generators, transfer switches, portable bypass pumps, and bypass connections.

The essential resources will be distributed to 190 critical facilities, including healthcare, emergency services, and water and wastewater infrastructure throughout Georgia.

The award is part of GEMA/HS's ongoing efforts to provide secondary power sources for critical infrastructure.

By securing reliable backup power, Georgia continues to strengthen its preparedness and response capabilities in the face of natural disasters and other emergencies, GEMA said in a press release.

SOUTH CENTRAL PRIMARY CARE DONATES MATERIALS TO OCILLA POLICE TO ADDRESS OPIOID EMERGENCIES

Tifton Grapevine Staff Reports

South Central Primary Care in Ocilla has donated Narcan devices and Fentanyl test strips to the Ocilla Police Department.

Each patrol vehicle now is equipped with the devices that are designed to rapidly reverse the effects of a life-threatening opioid emergency. Some of the Narcan devices have also been shared with the Ocilla Fire Department, which has placed them on a fire engine.

Ocilla Police Maj. Bill Barrs and Chief Ashley Jones accepted the devices and test strips from Melinda Carver and R.B. Tucker of South Central Primary Care.

With the newly donated vehicle are, from left, Denise McAdams, registered nurse and director of Anita Stewart Oncology Center Service Line; Dr. Margaret Richardson-Nixon, TRMC Foundation board member and physician; Mandy Brooks; TRMC Foundation director; Chris Dorman; TRMC Foundation board member and TRMC CEO; Dr. Apurva Shah, Anita Stewart Oncology Center medical director; and Dr. Wesley Walker and Dr. Sahithi Chittamuri with the Anita Stewart Oncology Center.

TRMC FOUNDATION GIVES VEHICLE TO ANITA STEWART ONCOLOGY CENTER

Tifton Grapevine Staff Reports

The Tift Regional Medical Center Foundation recently donated a 2024 Honda HR-V to the Anita Stewart Oncology Center in Tifton.

The vehicle will provide transportation to oncology patients who do not have access to a vehicle. The van currently serves 15-20 patients per month in a 50-mile radius.

“One of the biggest barriers to care identified year after year for oncology patients is transportation. Thanks to the Foundation, we are better equipped to address this concern to ensure our patients continue to have access to the care they need. We are grateful to have the opportunity to offer this resource,” said Denise McAdams, director of the Anita Stewart Oncology Center Service Line.

TIFT COUNTY NOW A GET GEORGIA READING CAMPAIGN COMMUNITY

By BONNIE SAYLES

Tifton Grapevine

The Tift County Commission for Children and Youth (TCCCY) was recently notified that Tift County has been designated a Get Georgia Reading Campaign Community.

“We are so pleased to have you join us as a Campaign Community,” read an email to TCCCY Executive Director Lillie McEntyre.

Get Georgia Reading Campaign Communities include more than 125 communities spanning the state from Whitfield County in North Georgia to Charlton County on the Georgia-Florida border.

In joining the campaign, Tift County will have access to funding and grant opportunities, coaching and peer learning, media and marketing materials, national and statewide recognition, and state- and community-level data on indicators related to early language and literacy development.

Get Georgia Reading Campaign Communities are organizing early language and literacy development to strengthen in areas the campaign calls the four pillars: language nutrition (feeding words to infants), access to reading resources, a positive learning climate, and teacher preparation and effectiveness, according to the Get Georgia Reading website.

“Two-thirds of Georgia’s third-graders are not reading on grade level, bringing long-term negative consequences to these children, their families, their communities, and our state,” according to the website.

“Unwilling to yield any longer to the unspeakable rate of illiteracy in Georgia, hundreds of public and private leaders from across the state and across sectors have come together to take on third-grade reading as an urgent priority for all who care about children’s health and well-being. Together, we developed a four-pillar framework outlining the conditions necessary for every child in Georgia to become a proficient reader by the end of third grade.”

McEntyre is retiring from TCCCY this month and is succeeding Andrea McLemore as executive director of Literacy Volunteers of Tifton-Tift County in July. She thanked her collaborative committee and strategy team for working on the effort to earn this designation.

“We have worked hard as a community to do all the necessary steps to earn this designation and look forward to all the opportunities it will provide our community,” McEntyre told the Tifton Grapevine.

“We look forward to our future work in literacy in Tift County.”

TIFTON GRAPEVINE'S CAT OF THE WEEK

"Capri" is a cute little guy ready to steal your heart. Come visit Capri and other pets available for adoption between 1-6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays at the Tift County Animal Shelter on Highway 125 South, or call 229-382-PETS (7387).

COASTAL PLAIN EXPERIMENT STATION CELEBRATES 50 YEARS

~ JUNE 18, 1969

Three noted agricultural leaders were guest speakers as the Coastal Plain Experiment Station in Tifton marked its 50th anniversary on June 18, 1969. Farmer and former state Sen. Jimmy Carter, Dr. R.J. Anderson, and W.L. Lanier cited both the problems and hopes of South Georgia farmers and researchers in remarks to the assembled audience.