Across Georgia

King Center trustee is planning big changes

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ATLANTA -- A court-appointed trustee of the King Center in Atlanta plans to remove the children of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and their allies from control.

Custodian Terry M. Giles says he believes the center honoring the martyred civil rights leader should be on par with a presidential library.

Giles told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution he plans to restructure the bylaws and governance of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change to ensure a national board controls it, rather than the King family.

The institution has been mired in conflict for more than 15 years. King's three surviving children had aired their grievances in open court for more than a year in a case that was recently settled.

Alzheimer's patient is found alive in old mill

ATHENS, Ga. -- An elderly man is recovering after spending several days in an abandoned mill in north Athens.

Police had been searching for 75-year-old Eugene Smith since his family reported him missing Monday.

He was last seen at an East Athens store on March 12 and workers at Athens Country Club found his car nearby the next day. The Athens Banner-Herald reports detectives discovered Smith in the mill a few miles from the golf course Thursday.

Athens-Clarke police Capt. Clarence Holeman said Smith had fallen about 18 inches and was trapped. He said Smith apparently fell through the floor.

Holeman said the Alzheimer's patient was conscious but not alert when he was found. He was taken to Athens Regional Medical Center for treatment.

Authorities identify man killed at studio

COLLEGE PARK, Ga. -- Police have identified a man who was shot and killed outside a recording studio in downtown College Park.

College Park Police Detective Reed Pollard told the Atlanta Journal Constitution Saturday that roughly 30 gun shots were fired outside the studio where 31-year-old James Perdue was killed.

Police are looking for the gunman, who they think might have also injured a man.

Officials say they believe robbery was the motive behind the shooting, which happened early Friday evening.

Pollard said several people were spotted fleeing the studio after the shooting began, and investigators believe at least one of those men was wounded.

Jury convicts parolee of stabbing woman

COLUMBUS, Ga. -- A man on parole for a 1986 murder has been convicted of shooting a Columbus woman in the jaw and sentenced to 65 years in prison.

Prosecutors said the wound Boyzie Barnes inflicted on Lisa Johnson was so severe it took out part of her jaw and caused a stroke that left the 41-year-old woman in assisted living.

The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer reports that Barnes was convicted of four charges Friday.

Barnes initially told police who were called to Johnson's apartment in April 2009 that he had responded to a 5:44 a.m. text message from the victim and arrived to find the wounded woman lying in bed. Investigators say Barnes later said he accidentally shot Johnson during an argument.

He was paroled in 1999 after being convicted of murder and armed robbery in 1986.