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Neighbor is arrested in strangling of woman

COLLEGE PARK, Ga. - Police have arrested a man in the death of woman with ties to Augusta whose body was found in her apartment bathtub.

Leroy Mitchell Knox, 21, was arrested Tuesday night near his mother's home in Decatur, police said.

Kimberly Jacobs, 26, was found partially clothed and face-down in a tub of water last week. An autopsy found she had been strangled.

There were signs of a struggle in the apartment. Mr. Knox lived on the floor above Ms. Jacobs with his girlfriend. He had just been released from the Clayton County Jail on the day Ms. Jacobs was killed, Chief Turner said. He had been serving time on unrelated domestic violence charges.

Ms. Jacobs was an Augusta native, graduated from Hephzibah High School and was a 2003 graduate of the University of Georgia. She has family members in Thomson and Augusta. Her funeral was Saturday at Stamp Branch Baptist Church in Warrenton.

Aiken authorities are looking for a 26-year-old Aiken man connected to a shooting in Hahn Village on Tuesday afternoon that left two men with injuries that weren't life-threatening.

Travis Lee McKie, of Damon Street, is wanted on three counts of assault and battery with intent to kill.

According to the Aiken Department of Public Safety, Mr. McKie is believed to be the man who shot 19-year-old Stephen Pope and 26-year-old Wallace Smith Jr. at about 3 p.m. at the intersection of Maurice Terrace and Freiday Lane. Mr. Pope was shot in the left arm, and Mr. Smith in the right, said Lt. David Turno, agency spokesman.

Authorities say Mr. McKie should be considered armed and dangerous. Anyone with information about this crime is asked to call (803) 642-7620 or Crimestoppers of the Midlands at (888) 559-TIPS to be eligible for a cash reward.

A Thomson woman died Wednesday morning after being in a car wreck in Harlem.

Evelyn Lafleur, 69, of Old Milledgeville Road in Thomson, was pronounced dead at McDuffie Regional Medical Center at about 9:15 a.m., Columbia County Deputy Coroner Vernon Collins said.

Ms. Lafleur was headed west on West Milledgeville Road in Harlem at about 7:45 a.m. when a Toyota pickup, driven by Joseph Leverette, of Thomson, pulled into her path, said Harlem Department of Public Safety Chief Jerry Baldwin. Mr. Leverette was eastbound attempting to make a left turn onto Sawdust Road and did not yield the right of way, Chief Baldwin said.

An autopsy will be performed today to determine the cause of death, Mr. Collins said.

Chief Baldwin said charges against Mr. Leverette, who was transported to Doctors Hospital with minor injuries, are pending the outcome of further investigation in the collision.

A first supply of flu vaccinations to the Columbia County Health Department were exhausted Wednesday morning.

As a result, remaining flu clinics planned for October by the department will have to be rescheduled, according to a news release.

A total of 518 people received a flu vaccination Monday. The Columbia County Health Department is scheduled to receive 3,500 doses of the vaccine, to be delivered in stages, so there won't be a shortage of the vaccination this year, according to the release.

A new schedule for flu clinics will be announced as soon as the next supply of the vaccinations is received, which is expected by the end of this month.

For more information, contact Columbia County Health Department Director Phyllis Roland at (706) 868-3330.

St. Joseph Hospital will be getting a new chief executive officer, the hospital said Wednesday.

James A. Cruickshank, who is CEO of University Hospital and Medical Center in Tamarac, Fla., will take over in January. The hospital is currently being acquired by Triad Hospitals Inc., and a ceremony celebrating the transfer from Ascension Health will be held Oct. 19.

Mr. Tamarac has been CEO since 1994, according to a news release.

Richmond County sheriff's deputies charged an 18-year-old Augusta man with sex crimes early Wednesday morning, police records show.

Johnnie Nathaniel Jones, of the 1300 block of Conklin Avenue, was charged with statutory rape and incest.

According to a police report, Mr. Jones is accused of having sexual relations with a 15-year-old girl.

The Army's last active-duty deployable hospital, the 249th General Hospital, will hold an inactivation ceremony at 10 a.m. today at Alexander Hall, the post said.

The 249th is a 476-bed deployable medical unit. The unit will receive the Afghanistan Campaign Streamer at the ceremony today.

The hospital was first organized in 1918 and participated in World Wars I and II. It was deactivated in 1971 during the Vietnam War and was reactivated in 1994 at Fort Gordon.

A former Medical College of Georgia employee has filed a lawsuit against MCG in federal court, alleging he was unlawfully terminated.

Michael T. Brandenburg filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court late Tuesday afternoon against the University System of Georgia Board of Regions and MCG Health Inc.

A lawsuit represents only one side of a dispute.

In one of the allegations, Mr. Brandenburg alleges that he was written up for complaining about mold and mildew in an MCG-owned building and also was ordered to come into work despite a work-related injury.

The defendants have 20 days from the time it is served to file an answer to Mr. Brandenburg's complaint.

The family of a woman disabled after cancer surgery at Medical College of Georgia Hospital has sued the hospital and two doctors who oversaw her care, court records show.

The family of Leslie Sutton Rhoden filed the lawsuit Tuesday in Richmond County Superior Court against MCG, Dr. K. Christopher McMains and Dr. Stilianos E. Kountakis.

A lawsuit represents only one side of a dispute.

In the suit, Mrs. Rhoden's family alleges that Dr. McMains performed surgery for a pituitary tumor, without proper oversight by Dr. Kountakis.

During the surgery, Mrs. Rhoden hemorrhaged, causing her to be hospitalized from October 2004 to February 2005, and to suffer profound neurological damage.

Officials will close the 800 block of Telfair Street today for the dedication of the new federal courthouse complex, according to Traffic Engineering news release.

The road will be closed from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Drivers are advised to use Eighth Street, Ninth Street, Walton Way, Greene Street and Fenwick Street as detours.

Four Augusta roads will be closed Friday to make way for the T.W. Josey High School Homecoming Parade, according to a Traffic Engineering Department press release.

Essie McIntyre Boulevard, Swanee Quintet Boulevard, Koger Road and Eagles Way will be closed from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Portions of Martin Luther King Boulevard and 15th Street will also be closed.

Drivers can avoid the area by using Grand Blvd, Wrightsboro Road and Olive Road.

Aiken County sheriff's investigators are looking for five convicted sex offenders who have not registered annually as required by law.

They are:

- Kenneth Bellinger, 46, of the 200 block of Brewster Way in Aiken

- William C. Harvell, 35, of the 800 block of Kedron Church Road in Aiken

- Timothy Kimbrel, 41, of the 5000 block of Whiskey Road in Aiken

- Tony J. LaCarter, 59, of the 1000 block of Old Ridge Road in North Augusta

- Kenneth J. Pond, 39, of the 2000 block of Black Circle in Warrenville

Sex offenders in South Carolina are required to register with the sheriff's office within 24 hours after being released from prison, and then annually for life. They also have to notify the sheriff's office within 10 days if they move.

Anyone with information on the location of these men is asked to call (800) 922-9709.

Aiken County sheriff's investigators arrested an Aiken man Wednesday afternoon on charges that he tried to cash stolen lottery tickets.

John M. Hagelston, 37, of the 3200 block of Roses Run Road, was charged with false lottery tickets.

According to the sheriff's office, Mr. Hagelston tried to cash the stolen tickets at Kent's Korner on Pine Log Road in Aiken on Sept. 23.

Mr. Hagelston surrendered to authorities, who'd publicized that they were looking for the man captured in surveillance footage trying to cash the tickets.

- From staff reports