The beginning of July 2025 will be remembered by the community due to a July 3 vehicle accident fatality followed days later by a July 6 arson and suicide at a local body shop.
JULY
A report of the fatal collision by Jones County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Christopher Dominguez stated when he arrived at the accident scene on Graham Road the evening of July 3, several people were on the ground being treated by EMS and rescue services personnel.
The driver of the 2020 Jeep Wrangler, 31-year-old Whitney Leah Davis, of Macon, was pronounced deceased at the scene.
The July 6 arson severely damaged Stan’s Body Shop at 4250 Gray Highway. An investigation of the fire determined it was set by former employee John C. Jason, 58, who took his own life after starting the blaze.
Jones County Sheriff’s Office Investigator Crystal Murphy said Jackson suffered from mental and alcohol issues, and a video captured him committing the arson. The body shop building has been under repair since the fire and is anticipated to reopen sometime in the early months of 2026.
The Jones County Board of Tax Assessors met with a full board July 3 for the first time in over a year. Tina Presley was sworn in June 28. She joined Justin Kelly, who took his seat for the first time May 21.
Interim Chief Appraiser Jim Davis reported at the meeting that 200 appeals had been received, which was well under the 800 necessary to hold up the submission of the tax digest.
He reported tax assessment notices were mailed May 29, which was two weeks later than usual. Davis pointed out, however, the delay was short compared to what he had expected when he was hired in March because of the work that had to be done.
Chance Scott was appointed principal of Clifton Ridge Middle School at the conclusion of a called Board of Education meeting July 11.
Scott’s appointment was one of numerous changes, including a new Board of Education member, Brady Skinner, who was elected to fill the position of Alfred Pitts, who retired as of Dec. 31 following 40 years of service as an educator.
Skinner received his oath and took his seat on the board at a Jan. 9 work session, which should have been mentioned in the first half of this article.
Jones County Commissioners and Gray City Council members gave the community a gift at their July 14 joint meeting to discuss the upcoming renewal of the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax.
Commissioners and council members unanimously agreed to joint community projects for the first $11 million of the anticipated $25 million in collections. Those projects included two city parks, sidewalks along Eatonton Highway, the resurfacing of former state highways and help with the debt service for the renovation of the courthouse The SPLOST renewal was on the Nov. 4 ballot.
Miracles continue to happen at the “busiest Dairy Queen on the Planet” that happens to be in Gray. DQ owner Justin Kelly made the announcement at the conclusion of a long day July 31 that the community had once again exceeded expectations by raising $180,000 for the Beverly Knight Olson Children’s Hospital.
He said the total included donations from 50 local businesses who matched the store’s top hour of sales. Kelly was personally recognized by Troy Bader, President & CEO of International Dairy Queen, and presented the 2025 Local Corporate Person of the Year Award. Bader noted that Kelly’s efforts have raised more than $500,000 for the children’s hospital.
AUGUST
Former football coach Michael Cumbee Chastain, 49, was placed under arrest Aug. 8 following the entry of his guilty plea for the charge of evasion of income tax, penalty, interest or other amount in excess of $3,000. The charge he pled to was a felony.
Chastain was subsequently released from custody because of plea negotiations with the state and the repayment of $24,500 in funds he had deposited into his account from the Jones County Touchdown Club.
The ramifications of his actions are believed to be the reason former athletic director Chad Alligood and former school Superintendent Charles Lundy are no longer JCSS employees.
Jones County first responders were honored at a Aug. 9 appreciation dinner held at Bradley Baptist Church. The awards included 40 years of service by Karen McMichael, 30 years by Patricia Mayne and 25 years for Mike Steed and Tony Griffin.
At the conclusion of the service awards, Fire Chief Thomas Coleman announced Steve Hall as the Fire Officer of the Year and David McCullough as Firefighter/Support of the Year.
The Georgia Academy for Economic Development came to Gray Aug. 12 to give community leaders the opportunity to learn more about economic development and get their required credit hours.
Qualifying for city elected officials took place Aug. 19-21 and at its conclusion had opposition for all four council districts. The office of Mayor and Mayor Pro-Tem were not challenged.
District 1 Councilman David Tufts was challenged by Rick Tipton, District 3 Councilman Terrell Fulford was challenged by Natalie Lurie and District 4 Councilman Terry Favors was challenged by Billy Horne.
The open District 2 had two candidates, Ikea Simmons and Lehman Wood, vying for the vacant seat formerly held by Benny Gray.
Bill Goodman was elected secretary of the Board of Tax Assessors due to the termination of the former secretary and appraiser Kim Adams. No official reason was given for Adams’ termination. Adams was credited along with Goodman and other staff members for working seven days a week for months to repair the county’s inequitable property valuations.
The Georgia Academy for Economic Development held a training session Aug. 12 at the new Gray/ Jones County Business Development Center. Facilitators Araina Reaves with Georgia EMC and Ryan Waldrep with Georgia Power conducted the sessions. Attendees included 28 students who were members of local elected and volunteer boards.
The Jones County/Gray Chamber of Commerce hosted a State of the Community event Aug. 28 that was attended by estimated 50 people, including Chamber members and interested residents.
Speakers at the event included city and county elected officials, law enforcement, authority leaders and educators who talked about challenges, successes and future plans.
The Board of Commissioners and Board of Education both rolled back their millage rates in an attempt to ease the burden on taxpayers. Both the county and Board of Education tax digests increased more than 6 percent due to the property revaluations.
SEPTEMBER
Gun shots fired at a local ballpark Sept. 4 resulted in the arrest of two. Alicia Cherry, 19, was arrested for firing the shot and a juvenile was charged with tampering with evidence and the possession of a firearm under the age of 18. No injuries were reported.
The case of a shooting that occurred over three years ago was resolved with a guilty plea. Jeremy Xavier Butts, 30, was sentenced Sept. 12 in Jones County Superior Court to 20 years with the first 15 years to serve in confinement for the lesser included offense of voluntary manslaughter.
His sister, Cierra Simone Butts, 26, received a 12-month sentence with six months to serve in the Jones County jail for hindering in the apprehension of a criminal. The victim of the shooting, Jada Franese Simmons, died May 16, 2021, at the scene of the shooting, which was a home on Nitrogen Road.
A county commission work session on the topic of data centers received little attention although the topic has since blown up to be a hot item on social media and at board meetings.
Commissioners voted at their Sept. 16 meeting that followed the work session to create a text amendment to add protections if an application was received.
Nicholas Wimbish received a sentence of 20 months to serve in prison in federal court, followed by one year of supervised release Sept. 18. The sentence by U.S. District Judge Marc Treadwell included a $2,000 fine. Wimbish was a poll worker at the Jones County Elections Office Oct. 16, 2024, and had a verbal altercation with a voter. Evidence found on Wimbish’s computer showed he drafted a letter sent to the elections superintendent threatening to bomb the polling place. Wimbish plead guilty in February to the charge of conveying false information and making hoaxes.
OCTOBER
The Oct. 7 meeting of the commissioners included more questions about the possibility of a data center and concerns that included the use of water, power, manner of discarding waste and anticipated reduction in property values.
Board Chairman Chris Weidner was presented with the trophy for the Sept. 27 Fall Cleanup by past clean-up champions, commissioners Wendy Vaughn and Sam Kitchens.
Weidner said for two cleanups in a row, he collected 150 tires.
Kenneth Don Kitchens Jr., 30, was arrested Oct. 16 and charged with one count of aggravated assault following a shooting. Jones County Sheriff’s Office Investigator Crystal Murphy said the controversy between the two men had been going on for a while, and the circumstances of the shooting seemed to be random. The injuries received by the victim were not life-threatening.
The 12th annual Salute to Georgia Sheriffs took place Oct. 16 and honored Jud Smith, the Sheriff of Barrow County. Smith was announced as the Sheriff of the Year in June by the Georgia Sheriff’s Association. The event was held at Walnut Creek Shooting Preserve on Stagecoach Road and once again drew law enforcement and leaders from across the state.
Commissioners voted 4-1 Oct. 21 to place a moratorium on all data center applications. The opposition vote was from Commissioner Daylon Martin, who said he was concerned with the haste of the moratorium. The motion was for the moratorium was made by Kitchens. He stated the reason was to give board members more time to research and strengthen the codes the county has in place.
The commissioner said Jones County is one of 11 counties in the state considering data center ordinances. The county did receive one data center application, but it was withdrawn before making it to the Planning and Zoning board, the first step in the process.
Jones County was saddened by the Oct. 22 death of former Jones Countians, Jim and Betsy Abbot, who died from injuries in an vehicle accident in Putnam County. Both of the Abbotts had been longtime employees of Jones County School System.
What was formerly North Jefferson Street that runs beside the First Baptist Church of Gray is now Benny Gray Jr. Drive. The unveiling of the sign and dedication of the road took place Oct. 22.
A Jones County family received answers to questions about the death of a husband and father in a small town in Germany, 50 years after the plane crash that took his life.
Gray Police Department Capt. Eric Maynard and his family traveled to Eiershiem Oct. 17 to find out Capt. Donnie Lee Maynard and 1st Lt. John Wayne Roberts sacrificed their lives to save the town. The airmen were killed Oct. 17, 1975, during a training exercise near Eiershiem Germany, and until this summer, that was all the families knew.
NOVEMBER
The Nov. 4 election also had good news with the renewal of Jones County’s Special Local Option Sales Tax. The winners in the city’s contested races were David Tufts, Ikea Simmons, Terrell Fulford and Terry Favors.
Simmons was the only winner who was not an incumbent. The voter turnout was just over 21 percent.
Kirby Vincent Moore was sentenced Nov. 6 by Superior Court Judge Terry Massey to 35 years in prison for each count of aggravated child molestation and 20 years to serve for the sole count of child molestation. Massey also stated the sentence includes life on probation.
Moore had been found guilty of two counts of aggravated child molestation and one count of child molestation by a jury of his peers Oct. 31.
The Board of Education was back in the news following the Nov. 6 announcement of a sole finalist for the superintendent’s position. Dr.
Jessica Graves was most recently the director of student achievement for the Colquitt County School District. She has a Ph.D. from the University of Georgia with a major in Language and Literary Education.
The announcement and the way it was presented were not well received by the community, who felt Clinton Burston, the interim superintendent, was not treated fairly by the board in the selection process. Those feeling were made known at the board’s Nov. 11 meeting.
The Gray Police Department announced the award of a grant Nov.
12. The High Visibility Enforcement grant is in the amount of $33,144.00 and is awarded based upon the partnership with The Governor’s Office of Highway Safety. The purpose of the grant is to help reduce crashes, injuries and fatalities across the State of Georgia.
Commissioners highlighted the efforts of public works employee John Simmons in the Jake’s Woods project at their Nov. 18 meeting. Simmons said he had been working on the county’s project for Jake’s Woods for a couple of months but has been working on his own for about 40 years. Simmons said his interest started when his granddad drove him down in the 1980s to see the property.
DECEMBER
The Gray Downtown Development Authority held its final meeting of the year Dec. 1, which included the election of officers and change in authority members.
The DDA had added new member Anndrea Lampkin at the Aug. 11 meeting. The decision of long-serving member Bert King to roll off the board prompted the addition of another member, Alex Smith. Board members Cecil Ethridge and Vickie Ethridge both agreed to renew their terms.
The election of officers followed with Sherri Rollins asked to remain president and Cecil Ethridge treasurer. Board member Rick Childs nominated board member David Tufts for vice president and the vote to approve was unanimous.
Main Street Director Ashley Roberson serves as secretary for the authority.
The Dec. 4 meeting of the Board of Tax Assessors included good news about the county’s progress with the revaluation process.
In his update, Goodman reported total number of appeals filed was 488, and 461 had been resolved with all appeals expected to be fully resolved by Jan.
31 barring new Board of Equalization or Superior Court actions.
Goodman also talked about the progress of Technical Appraisal Services that is performing the countywide revaluation. He said 95 percent of the initial review is completed with its finalization expected this month. In addition, 35 percent of the data entry has been completed with the remainder to be finished by Feb. 1. With preliminary residential schedules undergoing testing, the bottom line is the county is more than satisfied with the progress. Graves was officially sworn in as superintendent Dec. 1 and took her seat with board members at the Dec. 9 meeting of the Board of Education.
The new superintendent talked about putting her mission in place during her first week and starting her mobile office hours schedule, during which she visited each school before Christmas break.
Graves also began her ‘Finding our Greyhound Groove’ videos with more information about what is happening in the district and plans to be implemented.
Commissioners held three work sessions for the sole purpose of listening to the concerns of the community pertaining to data centers. The first work session was held Oct. 30 and the final one Dec. 8. The events brought together commissioners, members of the county’s Planning and Zoning Commission and the executive director and members of the Development Authority of Jones County, all key players in the decision process.
The public was not only invited to attend but members of a self-appointed community advisory group were given seats at the table to demonstrate their inclusion in the conversation.
The annual Gray Christmas Parade celebrated the beginning of the holiday season with award winning floats from Gray Methodist Church, Jones County Board of Commissioners, Town Creek Portables, Asplundh Tree Experts and Celebrate recovery.
The Development Authority of Jones County made a significant effort Dec. 18 to educate the community in the process and purpose of economic development in light of the vocal response of those opposed to the possibility of a data center. The session included a panel of eight experts and was facilitated by two directors with the Middle Georgia Regional Commission.
More than 60 people attended the information session, but if social media is an indicator, the facts presented did little to help with those concerns.
