Grand jury hands down indictments
Jan. 28—Among several indictments issued Thursday by the Glynn County grand jury were homicide charges against Kurt Eugene Batterson in the August 2022 death of Shakeyra Brown.
Batterson, 48, was indicted on three counts of first-degree homicide by vehicle, two counts of DUI less safe, and one of reckless driving.
Batterson was under the influence of methamphetamine and amphetamines on Aug. 26, 2022, the indictments state, when he drove his Ford Ranger 25 mph over the speed limit after dark and in the rain down Parkwood Drive, hitting and killing Brown, 27, a nurse at the Brunswick hospital.
The August incident was not Batterson's first run-in with the law over a DUI. Camden County Sheriff's Office deputies arrested him in June 2022 after stopping him for allegedly driving 91 mph on I-95, according to a report. Deputies subsequently charged Batterson with DUI and felony possession of methamphetamine and hashish, according to an arrest report.
After the stop, deputies said they located hashish, pot and a glass "meth pipe" containing meth residue, as well as a half-empty bottle of Fireball whiskey and an open can of beer, according to a report.
Batterson was released from the Camden County Jail on June 13, 2022, after posting some $19,000 in bond, jail records show.
In a separate incident, D'andre Bennett, Treyvon Cummings, Larry Darnell Bennett and Kwalik Ratliff were indicted in a June 2022 gang-related shooting
The four men allegedly unleashed a hail of reckless gunfire at people inside a passing vehicle on the afternoon of June 13, 2022, on Kensington Road, striking the vehicle numerous times, according to arrest warrants.
All four were charged with aggravated assault for shooting at Prince Brownlee, Joe'Marius White-Dixon and Jeremiah Wright in order to intimidate the two men and to increase their own standing in the Rolling 60s Neighborhood Crips, according to the indictment.
They were additionally hit with several charges of violating the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act due to their involvement with the gang.
Also among those indicted Thursday was Rodriguez Lamont Hamilton Jr., who was charged with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault and two counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
According to police reports, Hamilton shot and killed Jamarius Deshun Khaleel Cowart, and wounded a woman on the night of Nov. 2, 2022.
At around 11:08 p.m., a woman in a four-door sedan passed a patrol officer near the intersection of Old Jesup Road and Glyndale Drive, stopping the vehicle in front of the patrol vehicle in an attempt to get the officer's attention, police said.
The woman and Cowart both had been shot, police said. The woman "started screaming the passenger has been shot," police reported. The woman was transferred by a county ambulance crew to Southeast Georgia Health System's Brunswick hospital for treatment of her injuries, police said.
Cowart died at the scene.
