Across the region

Woman pleads guilty in death of daughter

ATLANTA - A woman accused of helping her husband kill their 8-year-old to rid her of a demon pleaded guilty to murder Tuesday.

Valerie Carey, 29, was sentenced to life in prison for the Jan. 19, 2004, stabbing and strangling of Quimani Carey at a downtown Atlanta motel.

Police discovered Quimani on the floor of their motel room. Pages ripped from the Bible were thrown on and around her body, and her arms were broken. Investigators said Mrs. Carey's husband, Christopher, 31, had stabbed her with a knife until it broke.

As part of a plea deal, Mrs. Carey agreed to testify against her husband.

He remains jailed without bond and faces a possible death penalty unless he agrees to plead guilty.

Office wants to handle Nichols' prosecution

ATLANTA - The office prosecuting courthouse shooting suspect Brian Nichols said in court papers its interest in seeing the defendant convicted of killing a judge and three others is no reason to remove it from the case.

The Fulton County District Attorney's Office said in court papers released late Tuesday that a defense motion seeking to bar the department from prosecuting Mr. Nichols should be rejected.

Defense lawyers said in their Oct. 21 motion that the district attorney's office can't objectively prosecute Mr. Nichols for the March 11 shootings that started at a downtown courthouse, in part because of comments prosecutors made afterward asserting Mr. Nichols' guilt.

Gorilla at Zoo Atlanta gives birth to twins

ATLANTA - A gorilla at Zoo Atlanta has given birth to twins - only the sixth time that's happened in a North American zoo since 1966.

Zoo officials say Kuchi, a 21-year-old female western lowland gorilla, gave birth to the twins Monday. The twins are the first offspring of Zoo Atlanta's newest silverback, Taz, and the third and fourth offspring for Kuchi.

There are about 350 western lowland gorillas in captivity in North America.

Two inmates escape maximum-security jail

COLUMBIA - Two inmates have escaped from a maximum-security prison, according to the state Corrections Department Web site.

Jimmy Causey, 35, had been at Broad River Correctional Institution after being convicted last year of kidnapping and other charges.

Johnny Brewer, 39, was sentenced to life in prison in 1999 after being convicted of killing his sister-in-law in 1994.

The Corrections Department said the two men escaped at about 10:45 Tuesday morning.

No details of their escape were made available, and agency Director Jon Ozmint was unavailable for comment, his assistant said.

Deputy will not face charges in shooting

COLUMBIA - The attorney general's office has declined to charge a Cherokee County deputy in the shooting death of a Blacksburg man armed with a screwdriver.

Mark Plowden, a spokesman for Attorney General Henry McMaster, said Tuesday that Mr. McMaster had reviewed a report from the State Law Enforcement Division and found there wasn't enough evidence to bring criminal charges against sheriff's Lt. Tracy Fowler.

In January, deputies were called to a Blacksburg home to investigate an early-morning shooting. Lt. Fowler shot Alfred Daniel Behney, 42, after he threatened officers with a screwdriver and refused to drop it.

More charges possible in hay-ride deaths

COLUMBIA - More charges could be filed in the hay-ride crash that killed a toddler and three adults, police said Tuesday.

Franklin Jones Jr., the driver of the tractor pulling a flatbed trailer that was hit from behind by an 18-wheeler, could be charged for operating a trailer without appropriate lighting, state Highway Patrol Trooper Sonny Collins said.

The trailer involved in Sunday's crash near a crossroads between Marion and Dillon off U.S. Highway 501 didn't have rear lights, police said.

The driver of the 18-wheeler is charged with felony driving under the influence.