A local mother was arrested Sunday for beating her 14-year-old son following reports from outraged customers at the Golden Corral in Martinez, according to a sheriff’s report.

Tonja Pierce, 47, of Augusta, was observed punching the boy several times and then using her shoe to hit him on the head and back while inside the restaurant on Bobby Jones Expressway, the report says.

(For other crime news from the area, check out this week’s edition of The Jail Report. Cover image: http://thejailreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Cover-Issue-645.jpg)

In the Golden Corral incident, Deputy Kevin Center was on duty at the restaurant when customers began complaining to him of Pierce’s actions. The deputy approached the mother, who promptly got up and headed for the door. The deputy told her to stop.

“I am not talking to anyone,” Pierce reportedly said.

The deputy followed her outside where he told her to stop or be arrested. A furious Pierce looked at her son and said, “Wait until you get home,” a report says.

“I discussed the incident with the mother and she said she lost control of her emotions and did strike the child in the face with her open hand and with her shoe,” the deputy said in his report.

She was then arrested.

The boy had no visible injuries. He told deputies he was playing with his sister and his mother told him to stop. When he didn’t stop, Pierce hit him in the back a few times.

Customers tried to stop Pierce from hitting her son, but she reportedly said, “Ths is my child and I will do what I want because I don’t care.”

A family member finally calmed Pierce down and she stopped, but customers reported the incident to Deputy Center, which started the investigation.

One witness said it appeared that Pierce had a mental breakdown while beating the boy, who was covering his head during the incident.

She was charged with simple battery – family violence.

Aiken parents were arrested for child neglect Thursday after their 1-year-old daughter was hospitalized with facial burns, a human bite mark and an arm fracture.

Michael Rannie was charged with two counts of unlawful neglect of a child while Nadine Lafleur were charged with one count.

The toddler was brought to Aiken Regional Medical Centers on Feb. 10th, and hospital officials reported the injuries to police as required by law. An investigation led to this week’s charges, Aiken Public Safety Lt. Karl Odenthal said.

The neglect charges do not necessarily accuse the parents of causing the abuse. Police believe there is sufficient evidence they failed in their role as legal guardian in protecting the child, at a minimum.

The victim suffered a spiral fracture to the arm, which is a red flag for abuse since such fractures are the result of forceful twisting or jerking, authorities say. The other noticeable injuries listed in a warrant were “burns to the left facial area” and “a human bite mark to the thigh.”

Authorities were not able to update the condition of the child.

Lt. Odenthal said children neglected in similar cases have usually been taken and placed in the custody of someone else, usually another family member.

Three gate-jumpers were arrested on Masters Sunday at Augusta National Golf Club after they tried to get onto the club on the final day of the prestigious golf tournament, authorities said.

Conor Wilkinson, 20 (pictured from left), his father Lloyd Stephen Wilkinson, 53, and Conor’s friend, John Bradley Boyd, 18, were all charged with disorderly conduct in the incident, authorities said.

Authorities say the three suspects were walking on the far west end of the course near Gate 14. That’s when Deputy Bruce Williams saw them trying to jump the fence near Gate 14.

“They were unsuccessful at jumping it,” sheriff’s Sgt. Monica Belser said. “The Deputies got into a short foot pursuit. The father told the son Conor to run. All three were taken into custody.”

Obviously, they did not have tickets for the big day, authorities said.

Citations were written for each and they were booked into the county jail. Each face a possible fine of $285. A court date is set for May 12th.

Coner and Lloyd Wilkson have a listed address of Holly Pond Lane in Mooresville, NC. Boyd has an address of Beatrice Lane in Holliston, Massachusetts.

An 86-year-old Augusta man died early Tuesday from natural causes, one month after being charged with killing his caregiver in a bizarre shooting on Leland Drive.

John O’Bryant died at University Hospital at 3:05 a.m. Tuesday, Coroner Mark Bowen said. He had been held since last month by sheriff’s officials for the death of his caregiver, 65-year-old Karl Hodge. He was accused of shooting and killing Hodge on March 14 at his house on Leland Drive. A motive was never clear.

O’Bryant was charged with murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, and he was denied bond. Yet he was cared for at University Hospital under supervision. Authorities said he had an extensive medical history.

“He was at the hospital for a couple weeks,” the coroner said. “He had a good medical history and just died.”

An Evans woman opened up to her Alcoholic Anonymous sponsor and ended up in jail based partly on what she revealed about an underage party and sex romp at her home, according to authorities.

Rachel Lenhardt, 35, was charged Monday with two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor for allegedly providing marijuana and alcohol to minors at her home on Whitney Pass in Evans.

The sponsor told investigators that she was recently asked to help Lenhardt, so she asked her over for coffee on April 10 to talk about Lenhardt’s plans for sobriety and such.

Lenhardt informed her she was four days sober since April 6 when she lost custody of her five children ages 4, 6, 8, 10 and 16. Lenhardt told her that an emergency hearing was conducted this month when her kids were taken away from her due to an incident that occurred at her house.

According to a sheriff’s report, Lenhardt gave her sponsor this account of the party:

Her kids were with their father one night when her 16-year-old daughter texted her and asked if her and some friends could come over “to party.” Lenhardt replied “come on, let`s party.” Lenhardt allowed her teen daughter and her friends to smoke marijuana and drink her alcohol in her home. The group of minors and her played naked Twister in the living room.

Lenhardt had sex with an 18 year old in the bathroom while the others continued to play Twister. Lenhardt told her sponsor she was still “horny” afterward so she brought her sex toys out in the living room and began to use them on herself in front of the group.

The group and Lenhardt then got in her hot tub naked where the party continued. Lenhardt said she was asleep in her bed and woke up around 3:30 a.m. when she felt someone having sex with her. She thought it was the 18-year-old but realized it was her daughter’s 16-year-old boyfriend. The daughter later told her mother that she felt guilty because the boyfriend’s 10-inch penis was too large for her and he needed to have sex instead with the mother.

Lenhardt also told her sponsor that she had shared pornographic photos, including photos of her and her current boyfriend having sex with her 16-year-old daughter.

The sponsor told investigators that Lenhardt has opened up about being a sexual deviant and porn addict.

Sheriff’s Capt. Steve Morris said this week’s arrest of Lenhardt is based partially on the account given to them by the AA sponsor. He said no sexual crime charges were being filed because 16 is the legal age of consent.

Aiken County authorities say a 16-year-old Aiken girl was fatally shot in a drive-by shooting Tuesday night on Diamond Street.

The woman claiming she was raped by a veteran Richmond County deputy on April 9 made a very similar allegation against another man a year ago, according to an investigation by The Jail Report.

(This is one of several stories in this week’s edition of The Jail Report. Pick up your copy today at local convenience stores for only $1. Cover Image: http://thejailreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Cover-Image-646.jpg)

In the woman’s 2014 rape claim, she went to the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office on July 11, 2014, and said she had been raped five months before by a long-time friend. But she had no evidence and the case was never pursued through arrest or in the court system, sheriff’s Lt. Allan Rollins said Tuesday.

In a manner very similar to the current rape accusation against Cpl. Jason Turner (pictured), the woman said she had been out at Captain D’s on Feb. 2, 2014, with her male friend and went back to a local hotel to eat and watch movies.

She claimed the male friend tickled her and kissed her, but she pushed him off and told him no. She said she assumed he got the message.

“The victim stated she then fell asleep and woke up to him on top of her and the suspect said ‘Oh s***’ when the victim opened her eyes and looked at him,” a report says. “The victim said she rolled over and passed back out.”

She said she woke up at 11 a.m. and they talked for a few hours before the friend went to work. She kept in contact with him for a few weeks but not after that.

It’s unclear why she waited five months to report it. Investigators asked her whether she kept any of the clothing from that night, and the woman said yes but she had washed them several times since then.

“There are no arrests in the case,” Lt. Rollins said. “It was closed based on the evidence in the case.”

In the most recent claim, the alleged rape victim had been staying with Cpl. Turner, a friend, at his Martinez home, away from her husband for awhile. Authorities say Cpl. Turner and the woman had gone out the night before and then went back to Cpl. Turner’s home.

She said sometime between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. April 9, Cpl. Turner raped her while she was sleeping. She told investigators that she woke up to find Cpl. Turner on top of her and even saw him taking pictures of her with his phone.

The woman “stated she did not give him permission to touch her or have sex with her and she is willing to prosecute in this matter,” a sheriff’s report says.

According to our sources, the woman contacted her husband the next day and told him about the alleged rape. She later went to GRU Emergency Department to have a sexual assault kit completed.

No charges have been filed against Cpl. Turner and he remains on duty at the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office, where he has worked for over a decade.

Columbia County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Steve Morris said no charges will be filed against Cpl. Turner until crime lab results from the rape kit are back. That could take a few months, he said.

Sources tell The Jail Report that investigators searched Cpl. Turner’s phone and found no evidence of nude photos of the woman being taken, shared or sent. And the deputy has denied ever messing with the woman.

According to the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office website, Cpl. Turner’s was honored in 2013 for his part in the arrest of five teens caught trying to rob a house. He was recognized a second time when he helped nab an armed robbery suspect.

Turner was promoted to corporal last March.

WOMAN ALSO CLAIMED HUSBAND & MOTHER-IN-LAW ASSAULTED HER; NO WOUNDS FOUND

The same woman claiming a veteran deputy raped her this year also said she was the victim of a violent attack from her husband on Feb. 13, 2015.

The woman told deputies that her husband and her were fighting about their child being sick. She said her husband turned violent and punched her in the face several times, threw her down on the ground and kicked her.

Responding deputies only observed a minor scratch on her face, a sheriff’s report says.

She also claimed her husband slammed her head into the door, a report says.

Deputies talked to the husband who denied the claim and said his wife actualy attacked him, jumped on his back and wouldn’t let him go. He said he pushed her to get her off of him, and that is when she fell and hit her head.

With no signs of visible injury, deputies filed no charges and the husband agreed to leave for the night.

The husband told deputies he planned to seek a divorce. He asked deputies to order his wife not to call him. They agreed.

On the same day, the wife also filed simple assault claims against her mother-in-law for allegedly hitting her arm. Deputies found no injuries in that claim and filed no charges, a sheriff’s report says.

Breaking news first reported from WGAC’s Austin Rhodes:

A statement has been issued by the attorney of Rachel Lehnardt, the Evans mother who has become the center of a sordid and controversial news story and criminal case.

The Richmond County Coroner’s Office needs help in identifying the hit & run victim from Thursday night.

The victim is a white male, 48 – 58 years old, 5-10 to 6-00 ft. tall, 200 lbs. shoulder length dark hair and mustache.

The victim was at Wrightsboro Road and McDaniel Drive when he was struck by an unknown vehicle that left the scene. The pedestrian was then struck by a second vehicle. There is no description of the second vehicle at this time.

The pedestrian was transported to Doctor’s Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. He had no ID on him.

Anyone with any information on his possible identity is asked to call the Coroner’s Office at 706-821-2382.

The body of a man was found early Tuesday outside River Glen Apartments in Augusta and it appears the victim was beaten, authorities said.

The man’s identity is pending notification of kin. Richmond County have not announced any suspects.

Coroner Mark Bowen said an investigation is underway after the discovery of the body at 201 East Telfair Street. Deputies responded to a disturbance in the parking lot at 12:45 a.m. Tuesday and found a dead man who appeared to have been beaten. He was lying between Apartment Buildings P and O, sheriff’s Lt. Allan Rollins said.

The victim was pronounced dead at the scene at 1:25 a.m., the coroner said.  The body was sent to the GBI – Atlanta Lab for an autopsy.

A 17 year old has been charged in Tuesday morning’s beating death of a man outside River Glen Apartments in Augusta.

Joshua Derrelle Mormant, 17, of the 300 block of Eastview Drive, was charged Tuesday with felony murder in the death of a man whose name is being withheld pending notification of kin.

Deputies also arrested 40-year-old Sharon Denise Pinkney of East Telfair Street for misdemeanor obstruction in connection with this homicide investigation.

The body of a man was found early Tuesday outside River Glen Apartments in Augusta and it appears the victim was beaten, authorities said.

Deputies responded to a disturbance in the parking lot at 12:45 a.m. Tuesday and found a dead man who appeared to have been beaten. He was lying between Apartment Buildings P and O, sheriff’s Lt. Allan Rollins said.

The victim was pronounced dead at the scene at 1:25 a.m., the coroner said.  The body was sent to the GBI – Atlanta Lab for an autopsy.

River Glen has been a frequent location for homicides and gun violence, including at least three killings at the complex in 2012, according to previous media reports.

Unfortunately, the sheriff’s office refuses to discuss motives in homicides, leaving the public to only guess at the possible cause of deadly violence in the Augusta area.

History of Murder Suspect
The suspect has only been 17 since January 5th. And Mormant had just been in jail earlier this month for some serious charges, including felony possession of a pistol by someone under 18 and two misdemeanors, including marijuana possession and giving police false information.

According to a sheriff’s report, Mormant was seen April 3 at the same spot where the murder occurred while a deputy was patrolling the apartment complex. As the deputy pulled in, Mormant “immediately walked to the passenger side quarter panel and reached into his waistband and pulled out the weapon and threw it on the ground,” a sheriff’s report says.

The deputy spotted the gun partially under his patrol car’s passenger side door and put the teen in custody. He found Mormant with 7.5 grams of marijuana in his pocket. The teen claimed to be 18 years old at the time, which would have made him of legal age to have the gun. But his mother arrived and confirmed he was only 17.

“Mormant stated that he found the gun in an unknown truck parking lot near the incident location,” a report says.

The teen was arrested and later made bond.

He won’t get bond so easily this time.

Accused teen killer Joshua Mormant stomped on a homeless man’s face several times in a deadly encounter Tuesday outside River Glen Apartments this week, according to a warrant released Wednesday morning.

For more crime news in the area, pick up this week’s copy of The Jail Report. Cover image: http://thejailreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Cover-Image-647.jpg)

Mormant, 17, is accused of killing 54-year-old Leonel Vasquez-Calvo by “stomping on his face with his foot multiple times,” the murder warrant says. The coroner identified the victim Wednesday morning, saying Calvo was a homeless man living in the Augusta area. He is originally from Costa Rica and has no family anywhere around.

The victim suffered “blunt force trauma to the head and neck and later succumbed to his injuries,” the arrest warrant says.

The arrest warrant reveals details the sheriff’s office had not given in an official press release. The sheriff’s office has also declined to talk about any motive that Mormant might have given for killing the victim, leaving the public to guess at the underlying causes of deadly violence in Augusta.

But sources tell us that Mormant inserted himself into a disagreement between the victim and another man after midnight on Tuesday. Calvo was reportedly drunk and was tapping the car of a woman he liked in the River Glen apartments. A man told Calvo to stop and the homeless man tried to swing on the guy, but the guy swung back and knocked Calvo to the ground. The man then walked away, leaving Calvo on the ground. But the man then heard a noise and turned to see Mormant stomping the victim, according to sources.

The woman Calvo was trying to hook up with was arrested herself for obstructing the homicide investigation. Sharon Denise Pinkney, 40 of 201 East Telfair St., was charged Tuesday with misdemeanor obstruction.

This week’s slaying occurred at River Glen Apartments, the location of multiple murders over the years, including at least three in 2012.

Mormant is pictured here in a 2013 image from one of his two Facebook pages. Both pages include images of him making the obscene gesture. On one page from 2011, he calls himself “KoolKidd” and “a Street N***a.”

As The Jail Report first reported, he has only been 17 since January 5th and had already been to jail earlier this month on a felony charge of possessing a pistol by someone under 18, marijuana possession and giving false information to police. He bonded out on those charges and was awaiting trial. He now sits under no bond in the Richmond County Jail.

Three Greenbrier High students were busted by deputies Saturday after turning up at the prom with alcohol in their system.

(Editor’s Note: A version of this story that appeared in this week’s issue of The Jail Report mistakenly identified the school and students as Grovetown. We apologize for the error.)

A sheriff’s report says three people, including two juveniles, were found to have consumed alcohol before coming to the prom about 9 p.m. Saturday at the Columbia County Exhibition Center on Partnership Road in Grovetown.

A public safety officer said he smelled alcohol on Joshua Samuel Shapiro’s breath as soon as the 18-year-old student walked into the center. A deputy tested Shapiro with an alco-sensor and he registered a .056 BAC. He was cited for minor in possession, the report says.

While investigating that case, a deputy discovered that two juveniles had also been consuming alcohol. One registered a .102 BAC. The second, who was found “in the parking lot under a vehicle,” was highly intoxicated, a report says. The deputy discovered that the second juvenile had taken medications that reacted with the alcohol.

“All three offenders consumed alcohol together and came to prom together,” the deputy said in a sheriff’s report.

The second juvenile was taken to Doctor’s Hospital for evaluation. Juvenile complaint forms were completed on the juveniles and they were turned over to their parents.

WGAC’s Austin Rhodes has reported that two party buses were hired to carry Greenbrier prom-goers around town. He said one bus delivered the offending students to the prom and the other party bus was waved off and never came to prom because officers were busting them for alcohol use.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), has announced a reward up to $5,000, for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the murder of Gail McFadgen in Aiken County.

On April 14, 2015, 16-year-old Gail McFadgen of Aiken (pictured) was shot and killed near Diamond Street in Clearwater, S.C.  The suspect/s fled the scene and has not been identified to date.

This violent crime is being investigated by the ATF Regional Anti-Gang Enforcement (RAGE) Unit which consists of ATF, North Augusta Department of Public Safety, Aiken County Sheriff’s Office, Aiken Department of Public Safety, Richmond County Sheriff’s Office and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.

Anyone with information about this crime should contact ATF at 1-888-ATF-TIPS (888-283-8477).  All calls will be kept confidential.

Richmond County authorities have caught one man and are searching for a second man in connection with Sunday’s violent home invasion on Holden Drive.

Kelvin Jones (left) has been arrested while Killeon Cooper (right) is being sought.

On Sunday evening, deputies responded to a home invasion on Holden Drive in Augusta. Two women, ages 72 and 49, say they heard a knock at the door and two men entered the home. The suspects then demanded money.

When a 53-year-old neighbor came to visit the women and happened upon the crime in progress, all three were bound and the robbers fled with an undetermined amount of cash and personal effects.

Cooper should be considered armed and dangerous. Know where he is? Please call Sgt. Paul Godden at 706-821-1020 or 821-1080.

Former Columbia County Commissioner Scott Dean’s adopted daughter was arrested Friday for allegedly shoplifting at the Augusta Mall.

Marlin Azucena Dean, 21, of Ansley Court, Augusta, was charged Friday with shoplifting. She is accused of shoplifting from the Sears at Augusta Mall, according to sources.

The Jail Report is working to get the incident report for the alleged theft.

Marlin Dean last made news in December 2012 when she pleaded guilty to burglary in Columbia County for stealing jewelry from her adoptive mother and selling it at pawn shops. Superior Court Chief Judge J. Carlisle Overstreet sentenced the young woman to seven years probation, with credit for time served since her July 21, 2012 arrest, under the First Offender Act. Dean, 19 at the time, was ordered to pay $17,100 in restitution and a $500 fine.

Marlin Dean’s adopted father, Scott Dean, was convicted in December 2011 of molesting another of his adopted daughters. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

The allegations about Scott Dean surfaced when Marlin Dean ran away from home. She was later found in Mexico and told investigators by phone that Scott Dean had tried to have sex with her. She later recanted.

An Augusta teenager has been charged with three offenses related to a sexual relationship with an underage girl, authorities said.

Harlem police arrested a woman on three felonies Sunday for leaving her grandchildren in a car while she shopped at Dollar General.

This is one of  many stories in this week’s edition of The Jail Report. Pick up your copy today. Cover image:  http://thejailreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Cover-Issue-648.jpg

Meachell Woodard, 57, of Hephzibah, was charged with three felony counts of cruelty to children in the second-degree.

Harlem officials say the woman left the children in the car Sunday evening for about 40 minutes while shopping at the store. It was about 6:30 p.m. Sunday, police said.

The children suffered no injures but were checked out by EMS since the children were left in the vehicle with all the windows rolled up.

The suspect’s daughter, 21-year-old Jazmon Woodard, said the arrest was an over-reaction by Harlem police. She said the children are ages 13, 10 and 4, and they wanted to stay in the car after wearing themselves out while playing on a farm.

“They were sweating before they even stopped,” Jazmon Woodard said. “They was playing outside on the farm, running, doing what children love to do. They didn’t want to go inside the store because they were exhausted. My mother is very loving. She wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

She said the arrest is crazy for her mother, who she described as a retired Army veteran of 36 years who has nine grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Jazzman Woodward said her mother has always tried to take her grandchildren to different locations to get them to enjoy the “outside world,” and she was doing that Sunday.

When the suspect stopped at Dollar General, she was shopping for food and drinks for the children. Two men apparently called police after seeing the children alone.

Now, Meachell Woodard has a restraining order that prevents her from seeing the children, according to her daughter. The suspect was released from jail Monday on bond.

This male and female shoplifted from the Evans Walmart, authorities say.

They used a self-checkout machine to ring up about half of their merchandise, and walked out of the store with the rest.

Shouldn’t they have to pay for their stuff like the rest of us?! If you recognize them, please call the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office at 706-541-2800.

For more crime stories, pick up this week’s edition of The Jail Report. Cover image:  http://thejailreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Cover-Issue-648.jpg