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SPORTS, PAGE 10
May 10, 2017 Vol. 125, No. 92 www.alexcityoutlook.com 75¢
Former Ben Russell coach headed to the hall of fame
Details emerge in murder preliminary hearing Suspects confess their roles to police, Thomas identified as triggerman By MITCH SNEED Editor
The two men accused of capital murder in the Jan. 18 death of an Alexander City man confessed to their roles in the crime in statements made to police shortly after their arrests. Dadeville residents Edward Rashun Thomas, 20, and 20-year-old Bobby Lee Ponds Jr., were arrested Jan. 20 and charged with capital murder for
their alleged involvement in the shooting death of 27-year-old LaDarrell Lamar Hart in his Third Street home. At a Tuesday preliminary hearing, details began to emerge. Before Judge Kim Taylor, Alexander City Police Det. George Long talked about how Ponds and Thomas were identified as possible suspects and then read from statements the two made after their arrest.
Testimony indicated that Thomas was the triggerman, shooting Hart once in the chest and once in the head. Ponds helped take items from the scene and helped take evidence from the house, according to testimony. Long read a statement that was made Image from video / The Outlook by Ponds that indicated that he and Thomas had been playing cards with Hart Edward Thomas holds a silver plated .380 pistol into the early morning hours. He said that in a music video that is believed to be the gun See HEARING • Page 9 that killed LaDarrell Hart.
REPORT: Heart attack killed man injured by dogs
Board cites issues at Camp Hill funeral home
By MITCH SNEED Editor
Family members have been told that preliminary autopsy results show a heart attack was the likely cause of a Dadeville man’s death on Alf Road Sunday night. While 63-year-old James Derle Patterson did receive injuries from the bites and scratches from dogs, the man’s daughter Samantha Patterson said Tuesday that investigators had contacted her Tuesday and said that preliminary indications are that her father suffered a fatal heart attack. “The dogs did bite him, but they said that a heart attack is what killed him,” Samantha Patterson said. “I know what people were saying, but the dogs are not what killed him.” Jacksons Gap Police Department personnel were called to Alf Road, just off Highway 49 at 5:13 p.m. The caller reported that he had arrived to the area and that dogs had had gotten to the victim who had been riding a See DEATH • Page 9
By CLIFF WILLIAMS Staff Writer
Cliff Williams / The Outlook
Alexander City firefighters and EMTs tend to a ‘victim’ at Tuesday’s disaster drill that feature a tornado striking the Tallapoosa Nursing Home. Area residents played the role of victims to aid in the realness to the drill.
First responders prepare for the worse By DONALD CAMPBELL Staff Writer
Twenty-six county agencies prepared to act in response to the annual mock disaster, which began at 10 a.m. at the old Russell Number One building off of Highway 280 and near the Russell Medical Center. Within the confines of the scenario, a severe thunderstorm spawned a tornado in Alexander City, causing massive damage at the city Sportplex and the “Tallapoosa Nursing Home.” As the weather threat moved east, emergency response units moved in to assess the scene and render all
aid possible. The Alexander City Police Department was on hand to direct traffic on 5th Way, while firefighters were moving in to get residents out of the nursing home and EMTs were checking on the injuries before getting them treatment at either a mobile hospital or Russell Medical Center. Following the “main event” at the Russell complex, Tallapoosa County EMA Director Jason Moran, Alexander City Deputy Police Chief James Easterwood, Lake Martin Area United Way Executive Director Sharon Fuller and several other city and county See DRILL • Page 9
Schools see record tax revenue, high graduation rates By DONALD CAMPBELL Staff Writer
Ta l l a p o o s a County Superintendent Joseph Windle informed the board of education that sales taxes collected during the month of April had seen a record amount collected for the county
schools. Tax revenue totaled nearly $285,000, half of which was placed into the system’s bank account. “For the fiscal year, we’ve averaged $125,491 per month collected through the one cent sales tax,” Windle said. He went on to explain that this put the account at a little over $2
million, none of which had been spent at the current time, though he also said some of these funds would be used soon for projects on the agenda. The board went into detail regarding the recent issues that had arisen from the incorrect high See SCHOOLS • Page 2
Carl Pritchard, owner of Alabama Funeral Homes in Camp Hill, and managing funeral director Donald Phillips will soon have their licenses to operate a funeral home suspended for 30 days by the Alabama Board of Funeral Service for multiple violations. Both Pritchard and Phillips were in an administrative hearing with the sevenmember board Monday. Despite the ruling, Pritchard, who has been around the funeral business for nearly 50 years, he said he plans to fight the running and that he has done nothing wrong. According Charles Perine, executive secretary for the board, Pritchard was found guilty by the board of violating three regulations. “The board found Mr. Pritchard guilty of failing to maintain an identification system for cremating remains,” Perine said. “They also found him guilty of failing to use combustible See VIOLATIONS • Page 9
Today’s
Lake Martin
Weather
Lake Levels
89 60
490.57
High
Low
Reported on 5/9/17 @ 8 p.m.
LACEY HOWELL 256.307.2443
laceyshowell@gmail.com 5295 Highway 280, Alex City, AL
54708 90050
6
8
USPS Permit # 013-080
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