Across Georgia

District attorney takes look at boy's suicide

DECATUR --- DeKalb County District Attorney Gwen Keyes Fleming is reviewing a fifth-grader's suicide to determine whether an official investigation should be opened.

The 11-year-old boy was found dead at his home by a family member after he hanged himself April 16, Ms. Fleming said. The county medical examiner's office ruled the death a suicide.

Ms. Fleming said Friday she was prompted by calls from the media and citizens to look into the matter.

The boy's mother has said in TV and newspaper interviews that he was bullied by other students at an elementary school in Stone Mountain.

Ms. Fleming said she contacted the family briefly and arranged to speak to them next week about the death.

She plans to ask the family about any incident that might have occurred the day of the boy's death and any previous incidents where he might have been bullied, she said.

Attempts by The Associated Press to contact the boy's family were not successful.

Wreck investigators turn eyes to family

ATLANTA --- A car involved in an Easter wreck that killed five people was repaired before authorities could locate it, and investigators are now examining whether any of the driver's family members should be charged with concealing a crime.

Aimee Michael, 22, told investigators she was driving a BMW when she set off a chain-reaction crash near the Atlanta airport that killed a family of four in one car and a 6-year-old girl in another.

She has been charged with five counts of homicide by vehicle, one count of failure to maintain lane and one count of serious injury by vehicle, hit and run, Fulton County Detective Melissa Parker said.

The BMW was repaired during the two weeks between the wreck and the time the car was located in a suburban Atlanta neighborhood, Fulton County police said.

"We are investigating all of the facts and circumstances surrounding this incident, including, but not limited to, any alleged concealment of the crime," District Attorney Paul Howard said in a statement Friday.

Ms. Michael told investigators she had gone to pick up ice cream and cake for her family when the crash occurred.

Detective Parker said Ms. Michael "didn't tell her family for a couple of days what had happened, and finally, she broke down and told her mother."

In other news

THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION has approved a federal disaster declaration for 27 Georgia counties hit by severe weather in late March and early April. The counties eligible to receive aid are: Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Baker, Ben Hill, Berrien, Brantley, Brooks, Clinch, Coffee, Colquitt, Decatur, Dougherty, Early, Echols, Grady, Lanier, Lowndes, Miller, Mitchell, Montgomery, Pierce, Tift, Toombs, Ware, Wheeler and Worth.