SUPERIOR COURT
Poor decisions by two Jones County women appear to have cost one of them her freedom and the other her life.
The body of 59-year-old Terri Potts was discovered in front of her home on Joycliff Road March 22. Cynthia Denise Foley, 55, was arrested March 28 and charged with felony involuntary manslaughter and reckless conduct.
Foley was indicted for the offenses by a Jones County Grand Jury Aug. 1 and entered a guilty plea to the involuntary manslaughter charge Sept.
22. Foley received a sentence of 10 years with the first 180 days served in confinement as a result of a negotiated plea agreement with the state.
She can serve the remainder of the sentence on probation.
The case was prosecuted by District Attorney T. Wright Barksdale, and Foley was represented by public defender Tom O’Donnell.
Barksdale told the court Foley caused the death of Potts without having the intention of doing so. He said Foley and Potts were coming home from Milledgeville March 18.
Foley was driving said she saw Potts snort a white powdery substance.
The prosecutor said the defendant saw Potts become unresponsive. When they arrived at Potts’ residence, Foley removed her from the vehicle, laid her in the driveway and put a jacket over her.
“By the time the body was found, Potts was decomposing,” Barksdale said.
The prosecutor said say Foley rang the doorbell of the house and told the other resident that Potts was in the driveway.
“That brought up some interesting discussion, but in our opinion, Ms. Foley had a duty. When she removed her from the vehicle and left her in the driveway, it was a disregard for her safety,” he said.
Barksdale said the sentence was a joint recommendation from the defense and the state. He noted that Potts’ daughter was in the courtroom and was aware of the sentence.
The prosecutor added that at the time of her arrest on this charge, Foley was on probation for a drug possession charge in Baldwin County. The end date of that sentence is Nov. 9, 2023.
O’Donnell said Foley did not agree with all the facts put forth by the state and is entering the plea as an Alford plea. An Alford plea does not admit guilt but agrees it is in the defendant’s best interest to plead guilty.
“We spent a lot of time discussing the law involved in this case, and in reality, this is a good disposition,” the defense attorney said.
Superior Court Judge Terry Massey presided over the case and addressed the daughter of the victim in the case. The daughter had previously stated she did not wish to address the court.
Massey expressed the court’s condolences for the loss of her mother and gave her one last chance to speak before pronouncing sentence.
“After I do that, it will be too late, and I want to give you another opportunity,” the judge said.
The daughter said she understood her mother made her own decision.
“I hope she (Foley) makes better decisions, and her family never has to go through something like this,” she said.
The judge thanked the daughter for her statements, and pronounced sentence.
In a News story about Potts’ death, Jones County Sheriff Office Investigator John Simmons said it appeared the deceased had been lying in the driveway for two to three days. The investigator said Potts was discovered by an individual who stopped by to bring cigarettes to the roommate of the deceased who lived in the house and used a walker to get around.
Simmons said the driveway in front of the house is shaped like a horseshoe, and the portion where the body was located is rarely used. He said it is also not easily seen from the road.
The investigator said he made contact with the roommate, who told him she had not seen Potts since Thursday, March 17. He was told Potts left about midnight with two ladies to go to Milledgeville.
Simmons said he found out Foley returned from Milledgeville Friday at noon, but Potts was not with her. He said Foley’s explanation was that Potts took something on the way back to Jones County and passed out. When they got to Potts’ house, Foley said she could not wake her and ended up dragging her out of the car to the driveway. She did say she covered Potts with a blanket and stayed several hours before she left.
Foley told the investigator that Potts appeared to be sleeping. The next report about Potts was when her body was discovered March 22.
Count 1 of the Foley’s indictment states that she removed the unconscious Potts from her car and failed to render or seek aid, despite knowing her condition.
“Her act of omission endangered the safety of Terri Potts, and the disregard constituted a gross deviation from the standard of care which a reasonable person would exercise.”
