Across the area

Toddler found dead in home

Police are investigating the death of a 2-year-old Augusta boy that has been ruled a homicide, authorities said.

On Tuesday morning, Richmond County Sheriff's deputies went to a townhouse at Lake Forest Court in west Augusta and found Jonathan Brice Dungan lying on a couch, police said.

The child died of asphyxiation, a lack of oxygen, but authorities would not elaborate.

Richmond County sheriff's Sgt. Richard Roundtree of the Homicide Division said the case is under investigation by his department and the Richmond County Department of Family and Children Services.

There was another child present. A 12-year-girl was asleep on the other couch.

Credit union robbed by two armed men

Police are looking for two men involved in an armed robbery at an Augusta credit union Wednesday afternoon.

At about 2:30 p.m., the robbers walked into the Seaboard System Federal Credit Union, 3636 Wheeler Road, and demanded money, Richmond County sheriff's Sgt. Richard Roundtree said.

The men escaped with the cash, police said.

Anyone with information leading to an arrest should call the Richmond County Sheriff's Office at (706) 821-1080.

Cigarettes are taken in market break-in

Burglars forced their way into a supermarket to steal cigarettes Tuesday, according to a Richmond County sheriff's report.

An officer who was dispatched to the Walton Way Supermarket in the 1900 block of Walton Way for an alarm activation saw the window of the entrance had been forced open.

The store's manager told the officer that at some point between 9 and 11:53 p.m., someone entered the building and stole three cartons of cigarettes, valued at $100.

Man, woman steal diapers out of truck

Thieves stole 59 boxes of diapers from a distribution company's tractor-trailer Tuesday night.

According to a Richmond County sheriff's report, an employee of RBW Logistics on Wrightsboro Road was working at the company's storage parking lot in the 1800 block of Slayton Street when he saw a man and woman loading up boxes of Huggies diapers from a tractor-trailer into the bed of a white pickup.

Deputies found the truck stopped on Gordon Highway, but no one was arrested.

Condition improves for crash suspect

Hospital officials have upgraded the condition of an Augusta woman who will face a second-degree vehicular homicide charge as the result of a wreck that killed an Evans woman Monday.

Kelly O'Quinn, 30, who was ruled at fault in the two-car wreck that killed Peggy Elizabeth Taylor, 50, of the 4700 block of Walnut Hill Drive, has been upgraded to good condition, a Medical College of Georgia Hospital spokeswoman said.

An autopsy on Mrs. Taylor's death that was supposed to be performed at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab in Atlanta on Tuesday was rescheduled for today, Columbia County Deputy Coroner Vernon Collins said.

Mrs. Taylor was traveling north in a green Honda Civic when her car was struck head-on by a white Ford Crown Victoria driven by Ms. O'Quinn, Columbia County sheriff's Staff Sgt. Tim Perry said.

Ms. O'Quinn's vehicle left the road, hit a trash can on the southbound shoulder, re-entered the road and drifted into the northbound lane, where it struck the Civic, Staff Sgt. Perry said.

It is believed Ms. O'Quinn suffered a seizure before the wreck, sheriff's Capt. Steve Morris said.

She also will be charged with failure to maintain her lane.

- From staff reports