Inmate serving life sentence charged with 1996 cold case murder of Georgia pastor

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation says they’ve charged a man in the cold case murder of a Jeff Davis County pastor decades after the killing. It’s been more than 30 years since 54-year-old James Hand was found shot to death on the roof of his church. Authorities say on June 1, 1996, deputies with the Jeff Davis County Sheriff’s Office discovered Hand’s body. According to investigators, the pastor of the Full Gospel Church in Snipesville was repairing the building’s roof when someone opened fire, shooting Hand multiple times.

Hand’s killer remained a mystery until the GBI says new information led them to charge Zachary B. Harper, a 47-year-old Hazlehurst resident with felony murder and malice murder. James Hand was found shot multiple times of the roof of his Georgia church in 1996, authorities say. Georgia Bureau of Investigation Harper is also serving a life sentence at Jenkins Correction Facility on an unrelated charge murder charge. The investigation remains ongoing, and authorities are asking anyone with information to call the GBI Regional Investigative Office in Douglas at (912) 389-4103 or the agency’s tip line at 1-800-597-8477. Once the investigation is finished, the GBI will turn the case file over to the Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office for prosecution.

Source: Inmate serving life sentence charged with 1996 cold case murder of Georgia pastor – CBS Atlanta

And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.
Colossians 3:15

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2 men plea guilty in the 2013 killings of a Miami Gardens pastor and her grandson after over a decade of delays

man in orange jacket standing beside man in black leather jacket

After 13 years, a case involving the July 2013 killings of a Miami Gardens pastor and her grandson has concluded, with the two convicted men accepting plea deals for two counts of second-degree murder. Reginald Jackson and Roderick Martin stood before Judge Ellen Sue Venzer in a Miami-Dade courtroom on Wednesday and were sentenced to a combined 65 years in state prison. “Mr. Jackson, you’re pleading guilty to two counts of second-degree murder with a firearm along with two counts of robbery with a firearm, deadly weapon,” Judge Venzer said. “Yes, ma’am,” Jackson responded.

Jackson and Martin pleaded guilty to the lesser charges in connection with the deaths of 70-year-old Annette Anderson, a pastor, and her 20-year-old grandson, Tyrone Walker Jr. “Are you pleading guilty to these charges because you are guilty of these charges?” the judge asked Martin. “Yes,” Martin replied. Why the plea deal was delayed  The plea deal was delayed last week after Jackson had an outburst in court when his family was misinformed about the hearing time. Jackson said in court, “I’d rather my mom see me at trial so I can see her one last time,” referencing his grandmother, who he said died months after attending a previous hearing.

Source: 2 men plea guilty in the 2013 killings of a Miami Gardens pastor and her grandson after over a decade of delays – CBS Miami

Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
James 3:18

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