SUPERIOR COURT
A bizarre chain of events that included a good Samaritan who found himself a victim of his good intentions resulted in a 15-year prison sentence for one of the offenders.
Aaron Goolsby was in Jones County Superior Court Oct. 12 to enter a guilty plea to the charge of aggravated assault, pursuant to plea negotiations. He received a sentence of 20 years with the first 15 years served in confinement. The remainder of his sentence is to be served on probation, and the defendant will receive credit for time served since his Nov. 3, 2022, arrest.
Goolsby was represented by defense attorney Melvin Raines. The case was prosecuted by District Attorney Wright Barksdale, and the plea was accepted by Superior Court Judge Alison Burleson.
Barksdale said the second count of kidnapping against Goolsby was dismissed as part of plea negotiations.
Goolsby and Joshua Ballard were indicted Feb. 6 for aggravated assault and kidnapping.
At the time of the indictment, Ballard was in Bibb County jail, having been arrested Nov. 18, 2022, for Bibb County firearms and drug charges and parole violations.
The crime for which the two men are charged was reported to Sgt. David Little Nov. 4, 2022.
In his incident report, Little said he met with the complainant on Joycliff Road, and he was also questioned at the sheriff’s office.
In a Feb. 16 interview, Simmons said the victim was from Atlanta, and he encountered Ballard and Goolsby Nov. 3 in Macon. The investigator said the suspects were having a problem with their vehicle, and the victim offered to help.
After he got the car running, Ballard and Goolsby invited the victim to Jones County, where they spent time at a mobile home park on Joycliff Road. Simmons said, when the victim decided to go home, he gave the suspects his name and phone number and gave a female who was at the residence a ride home.
The investigator said, when he dropped her off, the female gave the victim an extra phone so she could get in touch with him.
Simmons said the suspects called the complainant the next day. The suspects told him the car was not running again and asked him to come and give them a ride. The investigator said the victim told him that, when he arrived at the mobile home park, he was hit in the head with a pistol and held at gunpoint.
The investigator said the victim told him that he jumped out the window and tried to escape, but they caught him. The victim said he had no idea why he was being held until they started asking him about a bookbag. Simmons said it appears that the female had taken the bookbag, and when the suspects figured that out, the victim was allowed to leave.
The investigator estimated that the complainant had been held by the suspects for at least 12 hours. The victim called the JCSO and met with Little, who later took him to the mobile home park in an attempt to identify the suspects.
The victim was able to give a description of the suspects but was unsure of first names. Simmons said Little was able to find the female who had given the victim the phone. He said she provided more information about the offenders.
The investigator said using that information, he was able to put together a photo array of possible suspects and the victim picked out Goolsby as one of the offenders.
