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Thread: Death Penalty Pursued for Matthew Baker, Jr. in 2016 GA Quadruple Slaying

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    Death Penalty Pursued for Matthew Baker, Jr. in 2016 GA Quadruple Slaying


    Victim Destiny Olinger


    Victim Keith Gibson


    Victim Sophie Bullard


    Victim Matthew Hicks


    Jacob Cole Kosky


    Matthew Baker



    5 arrested in deadly quadruple shooting in Henry County


    By Tammy Joyner and John Spink
    The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

    Five people have been arrested in connection with the deadly quadruple shooting at a home in a rural part of the county, Henry County police said late Thursday.

    Three of the four people shot at the home on Moccasin Gap Road in a remote part of McDonough are dead. The fourth person — a woman who authorities say is in her early 20s — is clinging to life at Grady Hospital.

    Henry Police Capt. Joey Smith said the dead include two men both in their 20s and a woman who was in her late teens or early 20s. All were shot at close range in the living room area of the home. The shooter apparently knew them, authorities said.

    Smith said Jacob Cole Kosky, 22, of McDonough and Mathew Baker, 19, of McDonough have been arrested and charged with three counts of murder.

    Three other people — Jacob Williams, 18, of McDonough, Kayla Head, 21, of McDonough and Brooke Knight, 19, of Locust Grove — are accused of obstructing the investigation.

    Police would not release the names of the victims nor a motive for the shooting.

    http://www.ajc.com/news/crime--law/a...Zf24QQq9vMg6N/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Update: 5 arrested in Henry Co shooting that left 3 dead, 1 critical


    By Erin Callandra and Jessica Noll
    WXIA News

    HENRY COUNTY, Ga. -- Police confirmed late Thursday that they have made five arrests in a Henry County shooting that left three dead and one with critical injuries.

    Police said that the crime actually began as a late-night gathering or bonfire, but somehow devolved into gunfire. The call originally came in as a home invasion, but when police arrived they found four victims shot in the living room and kitchen. The person in critical condition was taken to hospital by medical helicopter.

    The victims' identities were released Friday morning. Those shot and killed where:

    • Matthew Hicks, 18, of McDonough, Ga.
    • Keith Gibson, 29, of Covington, Ga.
    • Sophia Bullard, 20, of Thomason, Ga.

    The initial investigation turned up two suspects for the fatal shooting in the 600 block of Moccasin Gap Road. But during the process of trying to find them, police also uncovered three other people who had some part, knowledge or direct involvement in the incident.

    Police 19-year-old Matthew Baker Jr. of McDonough was arrested after a felony traffic stop in a vehicle at his home.

    Elsewhere, 22-year-old Jacob Cole Kosky of McDonough was arrested after he called 911 from a location on Jonesboro Road to turn himself in.

    The additional three people, 18-year-old Jacob Williams of McDonough, 21-year-old Kayla Head of McDonough and 19-year-old Brooke Knight of Locust Grove, were arrested and charged with obstruction of a police investigation.

    Police do not believe there are any remaining suspects.

    Police said that it appeared that everyone was awake when the shooting happened. They interviewed witnesses who were inside the house at the time of the shooting and reached out to others who may have known those shot, but were not in the home, in an effort to find the shooter.

    Neighbors told 11Alive’s Erin Calandra that the owner of the house was on his way back from Florida. However, a 20-year-old woman was house-sitting at the time of the shooting. Her family, who arrived on the scene just after 8 a.m., said she was shot and is in critical condition.

    http://www.11alive.com/news/crime/mu...home/343027755
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Fourth victim in Henry County quadruple shooting dies

    By Ellen Eldridge
    The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

    At 4:36 p.m. Sunday the fourth victim of a quadruple shooting in Henry County died, officials said.

    Destiny Olinger had been clinging to life since Thursday, when Jacob Cole Kosky and Mathew Baker Jr, both of McDonough, allegedly shot her and three other people, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported.

    Authorities identified the other three people killed in the shooting as Matthew Hicks, 18, of McDonough; Keith Gibson, 29, of Covington and Sophia Bullard, 20 of Thomason. The victims were shot in the head according to the criminal warrant.

    Both men, shackled and in jail jumpsuits, asked for court-appointed attorneys during their first appearance hearing Friday in Henry County Magistrate Court. Their preliminary hearing was rescheduled for Nov. 21 at 2 p.m.

    http://www.ajc.com/news/crime--law/f...AIf9a659UUyCK/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Police: shooter in Henry quadruple shooting intended to rob victims

    By Tammy Joyner
    The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

    One of the men charged with murder in the quadruple shooting at a Henry County home Thursday had been there earlier in the evening and returned to rob people, according to police.

    Henry County authorities said Jacob Cole Kosky, 22, of McDonough, pulled the trigger during the shooting that left four dead, according to the arrest warrant obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

    Police also charged another McDonough resident, Matthew Baker Jr., 19, with murder, saying he aided and abetted Kosky by “holding one of the firearms used in said crimes for Jacob Kosky and then giving said firearm to Jacob Kosky that he then used in said aggravated assaults.” The report goes on to say Baker also helped Kosky leave the scene at the home on Moccasin Gap Road, a rural stretch of McDonough.

    Both men face four counts of murder, four counts of aggravated assault. In addition, Kosky is charged with one count of possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime and one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

    Both men, shackled and in jail jumpsuits, asked for court-appointed attorneys during their first appearance hearing Friday in Henry County Magistrate Court. Their preliminary hearing was rescheduled for Nov. 21 at 2 p.m.

    The fatally wounded victims were identified as Matthew Hicks, 18, of McDonough, Keith Gibson, 29, of Covington, Sophia Bullard, 20 of Thomason and Destiny Olinger - also in her 20’s.

    Three other people were charged with obstructing the police investigation. They were: Kayla Head, 21, of McDonough; Brooke Knight, 19 and Jacob Tillman Williams, 18, both of Locust Grove.

    The shooting occurred after a group of friends had gathered for a bonfire at the home of Destiny Olinger’s grandparents who were on vacation.


    Police arrived to find four people who had been shot in the head at close range in the living room.

    “I want answers. Why did they take my son’s life?” Lisa Gibson, mother of Keith Gibson, told Channel 2 Action News Friday. “I hope they’re punished to the max.”

    Gibson told The AJC her son went to the home with an unidentified friend who survived the shooting by hiding under a bed.

    Channel 2 reported that there was a dispute at the home earlier in the evening Wednesday. The shooter left and came back later with a gun and began shooting people.

    Gibson, who was on her way to a candlelight vigil for her son Friday night in Covington, said her son was “a lovable, caring person. He met no strangers. He loved to fish.”

    Her son leaves behind a seven-year-old son and three-year-old daughter. He worked on the assembly line at SGD Glass, a perfume bottlemaker in Covington.

    Around noon Thursday, police apprehended Baker during a felony traffic stop at his home, a few miles from the scene of the shooting, authorities said.

    Kosky called 911 to turn himself in, police said.

    Authorities said they received numerous calls and visits from people who came in to tell them what they knew.

    By late Thursday, families of the victims had been notified and a total of five people had been arrested.

    All five people charged in the crime are unemployed, according to police documents.

    “I have no idea what took place over there,” Charles Knight, Brooke Knight’s father, said Friday.”She’s talking to her lawyer.” Brooke was issued a $750 bond Friday by Magistrate Judge Robert Godwin.

    Family members of the other suspects declined to comment or couldn’t be reached. Head and Williams got out of jail early Friday morning, each on $1,100 bonds.

    Kosky and Baker have been in trouble with the law before.

    Kosky’s run-ins date to 2011. His charges have included shoplifting, probation violation, marijuana possession, driving without a license, obstructing an officer and disorderly conduct.

    Baker was arrested twice this year for shoplifting and once for obstruction of an officer, a misdemeanor.

    Authorities said that the people at the bonfire gathering late Wednesday all knew each other. Some were long-time friends. Others were merely acquaintances.

    People aware of the shooting took to social media sending out prayers and well-wishes for the victims, especially Destiny Olinger who remained at Grady Friday. Updates of her condition were unavailable.

    Olinger’s Facebook page lists her as a veterinarian’s assistant at the McDonough Animal Hospital, which declined to comment Friday.

    http://www.myajc.com/news/news/local...intende/nsy9n/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Fourth murder charge likely in Henry quadruple shooting

    By Tammy Joyner
    The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

    Authorities plan to add a fourth murder charge to two suspects in last week’s quadruple shooting at a rural Henry County home.

    “It could be added during the preliminary hearing later this month or the grand jury phase and I can’t predict when grand jury might get this case,” Henry Police Capt. Joey Smith told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Wednesday.

    Jacob Cole Kosky and Mathew Baker Jr. are scheduled for a 2 p.m. preliminary hearing on Nov. 21. The hearing was reset to give them time to confer with their public defenders. The pair already facing three counts of murder and four counts of aggravated assault. Kosky, believed to be the shooter, also is facing additional weapon possession charges.

    They are charged in the deaths of Matthew Hicks, 18, of McDonough; Keith Gibson, 29, of Covington and Sophia Bullard, 20, of Thomason. The three were found dead at the home on Moccasin Gap Road. Destiny Olinger was airlifed to Grady Memorial Hospital in critical condition. She died Sunday. All four are said to have been shot at close range.

    News of the latest charge comes as three of the shooting victims are laid to rest. The funeral for Gibson, a father of two, was set for 11 am. Wednesday at J.C. Harwell Funeral Home in Covington. Hicks’ funeral was slated for 2 p.m. Wednesday at

    Haistens Funeral & Cremations in McDonough. Hicks, known as “Matty”, loved the outdoors and enjoyed fishing, hunting, and shooting his bow, according to his obituary.

    Services for Bullard, who would have turned 21 on Halloween, is Thursday at 11 a.m. in the chapel of Coggins Funeral Home in Thomaston. She was a vet-tech at McDonough Animal Hospital.

    Funeral arrangements for Olinger were pending late Wednesday morning.

    http://www.myajc.com/news/news/local...ple-sho/ns23y/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Kosky, Baker indicted in Moccasin Gap quadruple murder

    By Chelsea Prince
    The Henry Herald

    McDONOUGH — A Henry County grand jury indicted Jacob Cole Kosky and Matthew Baker Tuesday in the October murders of four young people at a Jackson house party.

    Kosky, 23, was indicted on four counts of malice murder, eight counts of felony murder, four counts of aggravated assault, one count of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and one count of felony theft by taking.

    Baker, 19, was indicted on four counts of malice murder, four counts of felony murder, four counts of aggravated assault, and one count of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.

    The two McDonough men are accused in the shooting deaths of 18-year-old Matthew Hicks of McDonough, 29-year-old Keith Gibson of Covington, 20-year-old Sophia Bullard of Thomaston and Destiny Olinger, 20, of Jackson.

    The jury charged that both acted “with malice aforethought” in the quadruple murder, despite Kosky’s alleged admission to police that he was the sole shooter and Baker’s prior claim that he acted in fear for his life.

    Baker’s attorney argued during a December preliminary hearing that the 19-year-old did not know what Kosky had planned when he was called to the Moccasin Gap Road home on Oct. 27.

    Kosky and Baker had attended a bonfire at victim Destiny Olinger’s home earlier that night. At some point in the evening, Baker reportedly left the party with a crew of friends and later returned at Kosky’s request.

    When Baker arrived, Kosky allegedly handed him a gun and asked for backup, according to police.

    Kosky, who turned himself in later Oct. 27, reportedly told investigators with the Henry County Police Department that he shot everyone remaining in the house.

    “At one point in the interview he made the admissions, ‘I domed everybody in the house. Two to the head. Everybody I saw. I did it,’” Detective David LeCroy testified during a November preliminary hearing.

    Two witnesses hid and survived the shooting, including a woman identified as Kosky’s sister. The woman called police at about 2 a.m. to report the shooting.

    When police arrived at the home, Bullard, Hicks and Gibson were found dead. Olinger was found shot in critical condition. She was transported to Grady Memorial Hospital, where she later died of her injuries on Oct. 30.

    Three other people were arrested Oct. 27 in connection with the crime. Jacob Williams, 18, of McDonough, 21-year-old Kayla Head of McDonough, and Brooke Knight, 19, of Locust Grove were charged with obstruction of a police investigation. The three remain under investigation in the Henry County District Attorney’s Office.

    The prosecution will now prepare for trial, although District Attorney Darius Pattillo said Tuesday that it is “hard to say” when a trial date will be set. The case has not yet been assigned to a judge.

    If convicted of murder, Kosky and Baker could face a mandatory life sentence. Pattillo said the case will be reviewed at a later date in order to determine whether his office will seek the death penalty.

    http://www.henryherald.com/news/kosk...69bae506a.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Henry DA to seek death penalty in quadruple homicide case

    Henry County District Attorney Darius Pattillo said Tuesday he will seek the death penalty against two men charged with shooting to death four people at a home in a rural part of the county.

    A first hearing was set for Tuesday morning for Jacob Cole Kosky and Matthew Baker Jr. but was rescheduled for April 11 at 1:30 p.m. to allow time for Baker to find another attorney. Baker’s attorney withdrew Monday because he does not handle death penalty cases.

    Pattillo told a packed courtroom Tuesday that “the state is going to serve him today .(with plans) to seek the death penalty.” Pattillo told Judge Archer Garritty that he had filed his intention in court Monday. Baker was brought into the courtroom in shackles. Patillo served Baker papers that informed him that the state is seeking the death penalty as Baker’s parents looked on from the back of the courtroom. Baker’s attorney recently withdrew from the case.

    Kosky, who has an attorney, did not appear in court.

    The pair were indicted in January on multiple charges. Kosky, 23, was indicted on four counts of malice murder, eight counts of felony murder, four counts of aggravated assault, one count of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and one count of felony theft by taking.

    Baker, 19, was indicted on four counts of malice murder, four counts of felony murder, four counts of aggravated assault, and one count of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.

    On Oct. 26, the two men attended a bonfire and gathering at a home on Moccasin Gap Road in south Henry. The pair left the home at one point during the party. They returned with guns and allegedly began firing Four people were shot.

    Three people were found dead inside the home in the early hours of Oct. 27. The dead were Matthew Hicks, 18; Keith Gibson, 29 and Sophia Bullard, 20. The fourth victim, 20-year-old Destiny Olinger was airlifted to Grady Memorial Hospital where she died two days later.

    Three other people at the party were charged with misdemeanor obstruction: Jacob Williams, 18, of McDonough, Kayla Head, 21, of McDonough and Brooke Knight, 19, of Locust Grove - were charged with misdemeanor obstruction for accused of not cooperating with police.

    http://www.ajc.com/news/local-govt--...uSNQuGS7MopEK/
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    Attorneys ask state to disclose deals with witnesses in Moccasin Gap murder case


    By Chelsea Prince
    Henry Herald

    McDONOUGH — Defense attorneys for accused killer Jacob Cole Kosky have asked Henry County prosecutors to disclose any deals made with potential witnesses to testify against him.

    According to a motion filed in Henry County Superior Court on June 26, Kosky’s public defenders have asked for the details in the agreement made with Makenzie Jude Walton, Kosky’s sister, when she pleaded guilty to aggravated assault earlier this year. Walton was sentenced in May to 10 years, with two years to serve in prison, on the condition she testify truthfully against her brother.

    It was Walton that called 911 to report the quadruple shootings at the Moccasin Gap Road house party the morning of Oct. 27 last year, according to police. Police testimony heard in preliminary hearings suggests that Walton identified Kosky, 23, as the shooter.

    Henry County detectives also believe that Kosky intended to kill Walton along with everyone else in the home.

    Kosky allegedly confessed to the murders of 18-year-old Matthew Hicks of McDonough, 29-year-old Keith Gibson of Covington, 20-year-old Sophia Bullard of Thomaston and 20-year-old Destiny Olinger of Jackson during interviews with police. According to Detective David LeCroy’s prior testimony, Kosky did not know his sister was hiding out on the property or he would have targeted her as well.

    Kosky and Matthew Baker, 19, are charged with murder in the four deaths. The two McDonough men are on trial for their lives, as Henry County District Attorney Darius Pattillo has announced his intent to seek the death penalty should they be convicted.

    Walton, 19, was charged as one of three defendants in an earlier, unrelated robbery and shooting. The victim survived, and Walton was released from jail on bond. She violated the conditions of her bond by attending the house party on Oct. 27 and was arrested again shortly after, court records show. Under the plea, prosecutors agreed to drop several charges of gang activity against her.

    She was sentenced as a first offender.

    The motion also suggests that the prosecution has secured deals with Kayla Head, Brooke Knight and Jacob Williams. The three were with Baker the night of the shooting and reportedly provided false information to police, leading to obstruction of justice charges.

    Those charges, misdemeanor offenses, were set to be prosecuted in State Court. They were transferred to Superior Court on Nov. 3, but they have not yet been indicted or accused, according to court records.

    The District Attorney’s Office said Thursday that Head, Knight and Williams are still under investigation and could not comment further.

    Head and Knight also have pending theft by taking charges in Henry County State Court in connection with a Sept. 16, 2016, theft of a cell phone.

    “Moreover, upon information and belief, the state has entered into agreements, formal or informal, with Kayla Head, Jacob Williams, and Brooke Knight to provide testimony regarding their involvement with the incident which forms the basis of the above-numbered indictment,” attorneys Brad Gardner and Emily Gilbert with the state Capital Defender’s Office wrote in the motion.

    The motion requests the court to order the state to “provide in writing to the defense all deals, benefits or promises of benefit, threats, or statements that benefit would not be provided without cooperation that were made to any state witnesses, and make diligent inquiries of all law enforcement and other agencies and institutions regarding any such agreements or informal agreements made with witnesses for the state and to likewise reveal this information.”

    The state has not yet filed a motion in response. It is likely that the issue will come before Judge Arch McGarity for a hearing in the coming months, though no hearing has been scheduled.

    http://www.henryherald.com/news/atto...553a74c29.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Attorneys for Matthew Baker ask judge to nix death penalty option

    By Chelsea Prince
    Henry Herald

    McDONOUGH — Attorneys for Matthew Baker have filed their first set of motions in the murder case against him, asking a Henry County judge to find fault with several aspects of the proceedings, including the state’s intent to seek the death penalty.

    A total of 114 motions have been filed by Baker’s capital public defenders on his behalf. Several are assertions of Baker’s constitutional rights, some deal with the way he is to be presented in court, and others claim that the Henry County criminal justice system has discriminatory and, in some cases, unconstitutional practices.

    Baker, 20, is charged along with co-defendant Jacob Cole Kosky, 23, in the Oct. 27, 2016, murders of four young people at a Jackson area bonfire. Four victims were found shot early that morning in the dining room of a home on Moccasin Gap Road.

    Prosecutors have accused Kosky of shooting all four victims either in the head or in the back and have suggested in pre-trial proceedings he planned to do so as early as the day before the bonfire. Baker, according to prior police testimony, allegedly held a gun after Koksy asked him for backup.

    Henry County District Attorney Darius Pattillo has announced his intent to seek the death penalty should Baker and Kosky be convicted of murder. In his notice of intent, he listed nine statutory aggravating circumstances as reasons for capital punishment.

    It is Pattillo’s first death penalty case as district attorney, and one of the first homicide cases to cross his desk since taking on the role in January.

    Defense attorneys Kimberly Staten-Hayes, Shayla Galloway and Christina Rudy would like to take the death sentence off the table for Baker, arguing that it is unconstitutional because it is a violation of Baker’s right to freedom from cruel and unusual punishment, equal protection under the law, due process, and it is discriminatory. They claim that because Georgia has no statutory standards for when to seek the death penalty, the process exposes Baker, who is black, to discrimination on the basis of race or status.

    “In this case, Matthew Baker intends to establish at an evidentiary hearing that the decision makers in his case have intentionally discriminated against him on the basis of race, and, second, that the decision makers in his case are influenced by racial prejudices that make them more likely to seek and impose the death penalty when the defendant is black rather than when he is white,” his attorneys wrote in one motion.

    Baker’s case is unique in that it will be the first death penalty case to be prosecuted by an African-American Henry County district attorney. His attorneys, however, also take issue with the way that district attorneys and Superior Court judges are elected in the state of Georgia because they are often not representative of the communities they serve.

    They claim that there is concrete evidence that racial discrimination plagues the application of the death penalty throughout the state. In one example, they write that although African Americans make up 27 percent of the state’s population (current census data shows that they are 32 percent), 43 percent of Georgia’s current death row population is black.

    Since the state’s reintroduction of the death penalty in 1976, more than 70 percent of the people executed have been nonwhite, Baker’s attorneys argue.

    Nationally, although the majority of people executed since 1976 have been white, a disproportionate number have been black, according to data complied by the Marshall Project, a nonprofit journalistic enterprise focused on criminal justice. African Americans make up 13 percent of the U.S. population and 34 percent of those executed in capital cases.

    “Any respectable defense attorney with a client who the state is seeking to execute is going to raise that objection, or any other type of objections,” said Donald E. Wilkes Jr., professor of law emeritus at the University of Georgia Law School. Wilkes taught for 40 years specializing in criminal justice-related law.

    “When you are in a death penalty case and you are a defense attorney, you have everything to gain and nothing to lose by raising objections to the charges,” Wilkes said.

    It is common for defense attorneys to raise any objection possible and raise it early, because early objections are important to an appeals process. Though some claims may not be “winners,” Wilkes said, it is better for a defense attorney in a capital punishment case to present it and let a judge decide, rather than to miss out on an opportunity for their client.

    “There are many cases where people have been executed because there was a valid claim, the attorney did not raise it, and by the time it was raised it’s too late,” Wilkes said.

    Since 1976, 70 people have been executed in Georgia. Last year, nine people were executed, more than any other state.

    Though the death penalty has been sought several times in Henry County, it has not been carried out once in the 41 years since Georgia’s current death penalty statute has been in place, according to data compiled by the Death Penalty Information Center.

    One person, Mustafa Askia Raheem, convicted in Henry County was sentenced to death for the 1999 murder of a Henry County woman and her son. He has been on death row since February 2001.

    There is no record of the number of times a Henry County top prosecutor has sought a death sentence under the current statute. Baker’s attorneys have asked a judge to order that information for the last 30 years be compiled, either by the District Attorney’s Office or the Superior Court Clerk, along with a list of all the homicide cases prosecuted in Henry County from 1987 to 2017.

    No response from the state has been filed with Superior Court.

    The case has been assigned to Judge Arch McGarity, and it is expected McGarity will consider both defense and any state motions at a later hearing. As the anniversary of the shootings nears, no such hearing has been scheduled.

    http://www.henryherald.com/news/atto...fcea36240.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Kosky’s mental health at question in Moccasin Gap murders

    By Chelsea Prince
    Henry Herald

    McDONOUGH — A Henry County judge has ordered a mental health evaluation for Jacob Cole Kosky in order to determine his competency to stand trial for the 2016 murders of Matthew Hicks, Keith Gibson, Sophia Bullard and Destiny Olinger.

    The order comes after Kosky’s public defenders wrote the judge to request the evaluation, claiming that based upon their observations of him over the past year, “Mr. Kosky is presently unable to assist counsel and will be unable to assist counsel until he is consistently medicated.” Court records show that Kosky was prescribed medication for what his attorneys describe is “severe and persistent mental illness” less than 10 days prior to his Oct. 27, 2016, arrest.

    Kosky, 24, is accused along with Matthew Baker Jr., 20, both of McDonough, in the quadruple homicide at a Moccasin Gap Road bonfire in Jackson. Hicks, Gibson, Bullard and Olinger were found shot earlier the morning of Oct. 27. District Attorney Darius Pattillo has announced his intent to seek the death penalty should Kosky and Baker be convicted of their murders.

    “Since his arrest, Mr. Kosky has not consistently received the medication previously prescribed to him in the manner prescribed,” attorneys Brad Gardner and Emily Gilbert wrote in a motion filed with the Superior Court on Feb. 15.

    Judge Arch McGarity ordered on Feb. 20 that Kosky be “transferred immediately” to the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities for evaluation. He also ordered that any mental heath provider, community service board or jail mental health service provide copies of Kosky’s mental health records to the state department to aid in its determination.

    McGarity is asking Kosky’s evaluators to consider “whether the defendant is capable of understanding the nature and object of the charges against him, whether the defendant rightly comprehends his own condition in reference to such proceedings, and whether the defendant is capable of rendering his attorney such assistance as a proper defense to the indictment preferred against him demands.”

    No evaluation has yet been filed with the Henry County Superior Court, court records show.

    The subject of Kosky’s mental health was broached at an April 11, 2017, arraignment hearing when Gardner and Gilbert objected to news cameras in the courtroom. They cited Kosky’s possible mental health issues — specifically anxiety — that could be aggravated. The objection was eventually overruled.

    The April hearing was the co-defendants’ last public appearance in court. Considered together, Kosky and Baker had markedly different demeanors throughout their separate proceedings. Both pleaded not guilty.

    McGarity addressed Kosky directly several times over the course of his 30-minute hearing, to which Kosky assuredly and firmly responded. When asked if he was indeed Kosky, he replied, “Yep.”

    When McGarity asked him if he had any objection to his defense counsel, Kosky replied loudly, “They’re awesome. They’re great. Perfect.”

    Before adjourning, McGarity allowed Kosky the opportunity to ask any questions before the court. He responded: “Yeah, I do actually. How do I have 12 murders but there is only four bodies?”

    Baker, by comparison, tacked on “sir” to every response he provided the judge.

    When McGarity asked Baker’s opinion of his team of public defenders, he declined to comment on the advice of counsel.

    http://www.henryherald.com/news/kosk...99562b285.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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