Atlanta: "Smiling" black uses car to repeatedly run over WHITE woman, family.

[Cali4yaokie]

Five people run over outside McDonald's restaurant

The Associated Press - COVINGTON, Ga.

Police arrested a man they say ran over five people, including three toddlers, with a car in the parking lot of a McDonald's restaurant Tuesday.

Lanny Barnes, 46, is in custody at the Newton County Sheriff's Office and charges against him are pending, Covington Assistant Police Chief Almond Turner said.

"All indications are that he intentionally hit them," Turner said.

Three children ages two to four and two adults from separate families were injured when Barnes drove a green Honda Accord into the parking lot and struck them, police said. Authorities were notified at approximately 12:54 p.m.

The children were airlifted to a hospit
al in Atlanta and the adults were taken to Newton Medical Center in Covington.

The condition of the victims was not immediately known, but at least one was seriously injured, police said.

Barnes has had mental difficulties, his mother, Mary, told The Associated Press.

"He's been suffering with depression for years," said Mary Barnes, her voice shaking after being told by a reporter what happened. "Lord have mercy."

The crash happened at a McDonald's in Covington, about 30 miles southeast of Atlanta. The McDonald's was closed for the rest of the day, said Bill Hall, area franchise manager.

[Brewski]

This isn't looking good.

From 11Alive.com (Atlanta) 5/24/06:
Driver Who Ran Down 5 Denied Bond

A man accused of running down two women and three children in the parking lot of a McDonald's restaurant in Covington was denied bond by a magistrate judge in Newton County Wednesday morning.

During the first court appearance for 36-year-old Lanny Barnes, magistrate Judge Henry Baker said he would withhold bond until a mental evaluation can be conducted on Barnes. Barnes is charged with six counts of aggravated assault with a motor vehicle.

When asked if he understood the nature of the charges, Barnes responded "yes" to the judge. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 7.

The injured include 33-year-old Stephanie Casola of Cov
ington, who's listed in stable condition at Atlanta's Grady Memorial Hospital. Her two sons, 4-year-old Jacob and 3-year-old Isaac, were flown to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite along with their 2-year-old cousin, Avery Nicole King. While the boys were listed in stable condition, the little girl is extremely critical. Her mother, 36-year-old Anita King, was treated and released from Newton General Hospital.

Stephanie Casola


Police in Covington continued to investigate whether Barnes intended to run over the victims with his vehicle or whether it was an accident. Witnesses said Barnes seemed to intentionally run his Honda Accord over the two sisters and their three children.

"She met him face to face and when she did and when they looked at each other, he just kinda laughed at her and he thought it was funny," said store employee Tammy Wise.

Ryan Boldman-Snyder, 20, an emplo
yee at the McDonald's restaurant, was on a break outside when he heard screaming, and said Barnes was "smiling the whole time." "He came with the intent to hurt somebody," Boldman-Snyder said.

Barnes has had mental difficulties, his mother, Mary, told The Associated Press. "He's been suffering with depression for years," she said, her voice shaking after being told by a reporter what happened. "Lord have mercy."

[guru2000]

Stephanie Casola and her two sons were struck by the driver.




http://www.11alive.com/news/news_art...?storyid=80238


You beat me to it , Brewski.

I agree, not looking good.

[guru2000]

Car strikes five in restaurant parking lot

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansas...n/14651360.htm

[White Boy]

TNB Confirmed! Moving this to Dark Crimes -- White Boy
***********************************************

http://www.11alive.com/news/news_art...?storyid=80250


Lanny Barnes

Child Run Over at McDonald's Dead

Reported By: Jerry Carnes
Reported By: Kevin Rowson
Web Editor: Michael King
Last Modified: 5/24/2006 7:25:39 PM

Investigators say 46-year-old Lanny Barnes struck five people at a Covington McDonald’s deliberately on Tuesday.

One of the victims, 2-year-old Avery King, died on Wednesday afternoon as a result of her injuries.

On Wednesday morning, a Newton County judge denied bail for Barnes, ordering a mental evaluation.

Late on Wednesday afternoon, Paul Casola had the difficult and emotional job
of announcing the death of his niece.

“I regret to inform you that the brutal attempt to take someone’s life has succeeded. And at 3:50 p.m., at the tender age of two years old, Avery Nicole King went home to be with Jesus. Please continue to pray for our family as we continue life without Avery moving forward. Pray also for my wife and children. It’s our responsibility to honor God, glorify Jesus, find a way to forgive and move forward. That’s the responsibility of me and my family,” Casola said.

Casola also thanked the many people who offered prayers and support to the family -- prayers that have come to the hospital and to the family’s church in Covington.

It’s a church that in times of crisis have always been able to lean on its founders. Now the crisis belongs to Paul and Stephanie Casola.

Members of Passion Community Church in Covington are overflowing with prayers. A year ago, the Casolas started a church that has offered support to
Georgia soldiers. The couple has traveled the country, ministering to children.

Now, Stephanie and her own two sons are in the hospital recovering from something unexplainable.

The crime has affected an entire community which is having trouble coming to grips with the tragedy.

On Wednesday morning, Covington’s chief of police praised first responders, and the people who worked at the McDonald’s for their reaction to something incomprehensible. He says there is no way to understand it.

A collection of stuffed toys sit outside the McDonald’s restaurant. They are age-appropriate for three-to-four year old children. It is outside that restaurant that a car slammed into the children and their mothers as they left the restaurant.

Police say that Barnes has given no reason why he did it. But police say they are convinced he did it on purpose.

“When you pull your vehicle multiple times into victims, and they are obviously injured and hurt, what is the
intention, but to hurt somebody, and that’s what we have here,” said Covington Police Chief Stacey Cotton.

It is a vision Regina Franklin says she cannot get out of her mind, even a day later. She was in the drive-thru line at the McDonald’s when she says she heard tires screeching. She says she got out of her car for a look.

“And there was a child underneath, and you could see it roll over -- I couldn’t tell if it was a boy or a girl, I don’t know. All I know is that it was under there and you could see it,” said Franklin. “And you could see people screaming and running. It was the worst thing I had ever seen.”

Barnes was charged with five counts of aggravated assault. Chief Cotton says that one of those charges will be upgraded to a charge of murder.

Victims' fund:

Passion Community Church
Family Assistance
P.O. Box 1031
Covington, Ga. 30015

or

[Brewski]

Very very bad... a nigger with a "smile on his face" driving over a white woman and her family.

I'm putting my outrage on hold, pending pictures of the kids.

[-88-]

Passion Community Church in Covington is one of Georgia
Baptists' newest churches, having been meeting since Feb. 13
at a local school. Pastor Paul Casola, pictured above with his
wife, Stephanie, describes his church as having a "lean and mean"
approach to ministry. That is, to "do a few things and do them
well, and only if they help to fulfill our mission."

Minister vows to forgive driver
2-year-old runover victim dies

Covington pastor Paul Casola said Wednesday his family will try to forgive the man who drove over two mothers and their three children, killing one of the children.

But he called on the court system to hold the driver accountable for w
hat happened Tuesday afternoon at a McDonald's on U.S. 278 in Covington.

Announcing the death of his 2-year-old niece, Avery Nicole King, in a statement to reporters outside a hospital where his two small sons remained in serious condition.

"It's our responsibility to honor God, glorify Jesus and forgive and move on. That is our family's responsibility. It is the responsibility of law enforcement and our judicial system not to forgive but to assure justice be served," Casola said.

Following the girl's death, police upgraded the charges against the driver of the car, Lenny Perry Barnes, 46. In addition to the initial five counts of aggravated assault, Barnes now faces four counts of aggravated battery and one count each of felony murder and malice murder.

He was denied bond in a brief court appearance Wednesday.After sorting through the accounts of about two dozen witnesses, Covington police Chief Stacey Cotton ruled out an accidental cause.

"When you have someone hit two, three or mult
iple times, what's the intention? To hurt somebody," Cotton said.

Casola is the founder and lead pastor of Passion Community Church in Covington. His wife, Stephanie Casola, 33, is the children's director at the church.

Stephanie Casola and her sister from North Carolina, 36-year-old Anita King, and their children were leaving the McDonald's after lunch Tuesday when a green Honda Accord hit them.

Casola said his two sons, 4-year-old Jacob Paul Casola and 3-year-old Isaac Raymond Casola, were in intensive care at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite. He said Stephanie Casola remained in intensive care at Grady Memorial Hospital on Wednesday.

Avery King was Anita King's daughter. The mother was released from a hospital earlier, but Paul Casola said Wednesday evening that King had again been admitted to a hospital.

News of the child's death followed a day in which both the legal system and the faithful tried to make sense of Tuesday's events.

"It's hard any time you d
eal with children, but when it's a random act that costs a little girl's life, that's being tough on us," said Cotton, the police chief.

Cotton said he was proud of how city residents who were at the scene rallied together. A McDonald's employee scooped up one of the boys in his arms and rushed him to the emergency room in his car and "probably save his life," Cotton said.

Another man tried to pull Barnes out of the car. When Barnes drove off, the man ran after him "knowing that this person had just run over five people," Cotton said.Police interviewed about 50 witnesses who were either inside the McDonald's or in the parking lot outside when police say Barnes' car plowed into the family shortly before 1 p.m.

One witness, Regina Franklin, went to the Covington police station Wednesday to give her statement.

"I saw him repeatedly backing up and hitting them," she said. "And the little girl was underneath the car."

She added, "He had a smile on his face, like he was proud of what he ha
d done, like he was posing for a photograph."

Barnes' mother, Mary, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that her son had been suffering from depression for years. She could not be reached Wednesday.

On Wednesday morning, Barnes was brought to a 10-minute court appearance in a white jail uniform.

He spoke only when he answered "yes" to the question of whether he understood the charges against him.

At lunchtime Wednesday, about 200 parishoners and well-wishers came to the Casolas' church, once a Belk department store on Monticello Street in Covington. Teddy bears and flowers sat near the entrance.he church's Web site said the Casolas have lived in the Covington area for nearly two years.

Their charitable acts have included organizing a luncheon for relatives of service members deployed to Iraq and staging a monthly "Lunch on the Square" for business owners, according to the Web site.

Passion Community Church is collecting donations to defray medical expenses and the travel expenses o
f out-of-state relatives.

Checks may be sent to the church at P.O. Box 1031, Covington, GA 30015.

Checks should be made payable to the church with "family assistance" in the memo line.

link reg req'd

[Brewski]

From the video at WXIA-TV (Atlanta):

Paul Casola, holding a press conference to announce the death of his niece, Anita Avery King, 2:


I can think of only two things that would have made this hellbound racist nigger smile as he intentionally drove over two women and their three kids in a McDonald's parking lot.

I'm still waiting for pics of the kids. Maybe today.

I'll say this much, Pastor Paul and his flock are doing much better than I'd do considering the circumstances, holding prayer meetings and forgiving the nigger and all.

If this happened to my wife and kid, that's be the end of old Brewski as you know me. Instead of old Brewski pictured crying tears of forgiveness, you
'd read about Brewski, "the smiling, cold-hearted, racist white man" who ran over as many niggers and niglets as he could until he ran out of gas or his transmission gave out and the cops shot him.

In my humble opinion, this nigger really should be broken out of jail and street-dragged until the chain is all that's left. I hope someone does it.

Then I'll have a smile on MY face.

[-88-]

Death of Weaverville toddler mourned following bizarre attack at Georgia McDonald's

Friends and family of a Weaverville family are struggling to comprehend a senseless attack by a motorist in a McDonald?s parking lot in Georgia that took the life of the couple?s only child.

Avery Nicole King, 2, died Wednesday, a day after she was struck while leaving the restaurant along with her mother, aunt and cousins, ages 3 and 4.

The toddler?s mother, Anita King, and the three other relatives were hospitalized following the attack in Covington about 35 miles southeast of Atlanta. Police said a man drove his car into the group, backed up and then hit them again.

?It?s hard to grasp,? said John Lamun of Weaverville, a friend of Anita King and her hus
band Tony. ?There?s no rationale or reason why these things happen.

?These are just nice young people with a really, really wonderful child, and they don?t have her anymore. It?s a terrible loss. It?s going to take a lot of time for everyone who?s been touched by it to make the necessary steps through the grieving process.?

The Kings live on Maple Drive in the Starview Heights subdivision, which was built by Tony King and his father Lloyd King, who are real estate developers.

Their neighbor, David McElroy, recalled watching Avery being pushed up and down the street in her stroller by her grandparents.

?It was like a little parade,? he said. ?She had to wave to everyone and speak to everyone. She was just a little angel. I never saw her without a smile. She made you smile just to be near her.

?Who can comprehend (why she was killed). What could be going through his mind? It?s such a tragedy.?

The Kings attend church at the Rock of Asheville.

Lanny Barnes, already facing five counts of felony aggravated assault, is now also charged with felony murder, malice murder and four counts of aggravated battery. Felony murder in Georgia law is a killing committed during the commission of another crime, while malice murder is killing with deliberation.

Warrants for the new charges were issued Wednesday night and personally served to Barnes, Police Chief Stacey Cotton said.

"There was clear intent to injure the people. It was obvious," Cotton said. "This was absolutely not an accident."

Barnes, 46, appeared Wednesday before Chief Magistrate Judge Henry Baker and was ordered held without bail pending a mental health evaluation.

Cotton said the motive was unknown and the attack was apparently random. He declined to comment on witness reports that Barnes was smiling during the attack.

Anita King, 36, was treated and released from Newton Medical Center on Tuesday but was readmitted Wednesday
to another hospital, the family said.

Her sister Stephanie Casola, 33, of Covington, was listed in fair condition Wednesday, Grady Memorial Hospital spokeswoman Denise Simpson said. Casola's children, Jacob Paul, 4, was listed in fair condition and Isaac Raymond, 3, was in serious condition Thursday at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta.

Casola's husband, the Rev. Paul Casola, said the family would find a way to move forward, but "forgiveness is not the responsibility of the justice system."

Barnes' lawyer, Anthony Carter, said mental health could be a factor in the defense. Mary Barnes said her son has suffered depression for years.

"We are beginning a full investigation into all aspects of this case, including Mr. Barnes' mental capacity at the time of the incident, as well as past mental health treatment," Carter said.

Tests on blood and urine samples taken from Barnes were pending, authorities said.

[-88-]

Driver's Family Sends Sympathies

COVINGTON, Ga. (AP) - The family of a man accused of driving into five people in a McDonald's parking lot issued a statement on Saturday expressing sympathy for the five and their families.

"We, the Barnes family, would like to extend our deepest condolences, sympathy and heartfelt sorrow to all of the families involved," the statement said. "We share your pain and grief."

A woman who sent the statement to The Associated Press would only identify herself as the sister of the man being held without bail on a murder charge and other felony counts of aggravated assault.

Lanny Barnes, 46, had the murder charge added after 2-year-old Avery Nicole King died of her injuries at Children's Healthcare
of Atlanta. Two other children, Jacob Paul Casola, 4, and Isaac Raymond Casola, 3, were injured along with their mother Stephanie Casola, 33. Anita King, 36, mother of the child who died, initially was treated and released but then was said to have been admitted to a hospital.

The Barnes family statement also said, "Our loved one, Lanny, has a history of mental challenges and we are asking for prayers for him as well as for all the lives that this tragic event has touched."

The attack was intentional, but police have not been able to determine a motive, Covington Police Chief Stacey Cotton said Wednesday.

Barnes' mother, Mary Barnes, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that her son has suffered with depression for years.