October 22, 2025

District Attorney Keith Higgins announces the guilty plea of Valdez Lozada to two counts of Cruelty to Children in the First Degree, four counts of Child Molestation, two counts of Enticing a Child for Indecent Purposes, one count of Electronically Furnishing Obscene Material to Minors, and two counts of Sexual Exploitation of Children. Lozada entered an open plea in Glynn County Superior Court and was sentenced to a total of 60 years with 40 years to serve in the Department of Corrections for all counts by Judge Stephen Kelley. The prosecution team of Meghan Chitty and Richard Braun took the plea before the Court.

On February 12^th, 2025, Officers with the Glynn County Police Department responded to a call at the Glynn Mobile Home Park, in reference to a sex offense, which led to the arrest of Valdez Christopher Lozada, 54. Through their investigations, police learned that in December of 2024, Lozada befriended a family with two minor daughters living nearby. Between December 2024 and February 2025 Lozada invited the minor females into his home and on multiple occasions, undressed in front of them. Lozada gave the minors a cell phone containing several nude photos and videos of himself. Lozada also forced the minors to undress and took multiple photos and videos of them.

The State presented victim impact through an emotional live testimony by the victims’ grandfather.

The District Attorney’s Office would like to thank Glynn County Police Department, especially Det. Damon Baker for his tremendous work on this case.

Members of the media with further questions may contact the Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office at 912-554-7200.

June 9, 2025

The District Attorney’s Office for the Brunswick Judicial Circuit today announced the conviction of Richard Gilley, age 58, for one count of Aggravated Child Molestation and one count of Aggravated Sexual Battery in Camden County Superior Court. The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Cameron Atwood.

On Monday, June 9, 2025, Defendant Richard Gilley pled guilty to one count of Aggravated Child Molestation and one count of Aggravated Sexual Battery against a 14-year-old girl.

After the defendant pled guilty, Judge Robert Guy considered the arguments of the prosecutor and the arguments of defense counsel and then sentenced Gilley to serve a term of life in prison for Aggravated Child Molestation and life in prison for Aggravated Sexual Battery, to run concurrent with the Aggravated Child Molestation sentence.

Evidence gathered by the Camden County Sheriff’s Office revealed that Gilley, who had known the victim from an early age and was referred to by her and others as “Papa,” consistently engaged her through email messages and in person to groom her. Using his close relationship with the victim and her family, Gilley took the victim back to his home after church and repeatedly molested her before he returned her to her family on the same day.

Eventually, email messages between Gilley and the victim were discovered by a family member, and law enforcement was notified. Further investigation by Deputy Bethany Stillwell, Investigator Jonathan Chrissley, and Investigator Nathan Daniel of the Camden County Sheriff’s Office uncovered Gilley’s culpability in the molestations and established that the abuse occurred during the period of time from June through August 2024.

Assistant District Attorney Cameron Atwood, who prosecuted the case and handled the plea, praised the Camden County Sheriff’s Office for its investigation, stating that “though this case began with a betrayal by the Defendant, it has ended with the combined trust and cooperation of law enforcement, the family of the victim, and the District Attorney’s Office securing justice for not only the victim, but for our community as well.”

Members of the media with further questions may contact the Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office at 912-554-7200.

June 11, 2025

The District Attorney’s Office for the Brunswick Judicial Circuit today announced the conviction of Michael Kozlowski, age 32, for one count of Rape, one count of Child Molestation, and one count of Incest.

On Wednesday, June 11, 2025, a Camden County jury found 32-year-old Michael Kozlowski guilty for the Rape, Child Molestation and Incest of his 12-year-old stepdaughter.  Due to the strength of the evidence presented by Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney Harold Moroz, the jury only deliberated for five minutes before it found Kozlowski guilty of all charges.

Following the verdict, Judge Robert Guy sentenced Kozlowski to serve a term of life in prison for Rape, twenty years in prison for Child Molestation, to run concurrent with the Rape sentence, and fifty years prison for Incest, to also run concurrent with the Rape and Child Molestation sentences.

Evidence presented at trial showed that Kozlowski repeatedly raped his stepdaughter at their residence in St. Marys during the period of time from August 2020 through August 2021. Even though the victim had told her biological mother years before that her stepfather had sexually assaulted her when they lived in Michigan, the child’s mother did not intervene, and Kozlowski continued to abuse the victim after they moved to Georgia. The victim’s biological mother was previously sentenced in Camden County for felony charges related to this case.

On the witness stand, the now 16-year-old victim credited the intervention of St. Marys Police Detective Kimberly Reale, who was the first responding officer on the scene when the crime was reported in August 2021, with having stopped the on-going sexual assaults.

The victim in this case continues to reside in Camden County but does so now under the love and care of her adopted parents.

Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney Hal Moroz, who prosecuted the case, stated that “the overwhelming evidence and thorough investigation by the St. Marys Police Department contributed mightily to the swift verdict and rendering of justice!”  Moroz went on to thank the jury who heard the gruesome testimony and sordid details, stating that “without the participation of good citizens in our community, our efforts would fall short, but because of their efforts, we have justice in Camden County, and that is a blessing!”.

Members of the media with further questions may contact the Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office at 912-554-7200.

April 10, 2025

The District Attorney’s Office for the Brunswick Judicial Circuit announced today that on April 10, 2025, Larry Jenkins, Jr., 49, was convicted of two counts of Malice Murder, two counts of Kidnapping with Bodily Injury, one count of Armed Robbery, and one count of Theft by Taking. After a four-day jury trial in Glynn County Superior Court, a jury came back with a verdict that found Jenkins guilty of all charges. Shortly after the guilty verdicts were returned, a sentencing hearing was held where the District Attorney presented numerous victim impact statements.  After Judge Stephen G. Scarlett Sr. reviewed the victim impact statements, he sentenced Jenkins to serve four consecutive life sentences with the possibility of parole, which was the maximum sentence that could be imposed. The case was prosecuted and tried by District Attorney Keith Higgins.

This trial was the third time that Jenkins was tried and convicted for the same crimes. He was previously convicted for the crimes in 1995, but that conviction was overturned by the Georgia Supreme Court because Jenkins’s defense counsel had a conflict of interest, and they failed to adequately investigate a possible defense. Jenkins was then re-tried and convicted for the same offenses in 2014, but that conviction was overturned by the Georgia Supreme Court because it decided the prosecuting attorneys should not have presented evidence of Jenkins’s confession.

At trial, District Attorney Higgins presented fifty-nine exhibits and testimony from twenty-five witnesses, which included the reading of transcribed testimony from five witnesses who died after they testified at one of the previous trials. The trial evidence showed that on January 8, 1993, Larry Jenkins, who was 17 years old, kidnapped Terry Ralston, 37, and her son, Michael Ralston, 15, from their family-owned laundromat that was on Macon Street in Jesup, Georgia. After forcing them to travel in Terry Ralston’s van from the laundromat to a more secluded area in Jesup, Jenkins then made Terry and Michael walk from the van into a wooded area where he made them lay face down on the ground, and he callously murdered them by shooting them with a .22 magnum handgun. After murdering the Ralstons, Jenkins then picked up friends with the van he stole from Terry, and he travelled to a nightclub in Waycross and to a house in Alma, where he and his friends spent the night with some girls. On the next day, Jenkins and his friends travelled back to Jesup where they went to several businesses and cashed in hundreds of dollars’ worth of quarters that Jenkins had stolen from the laundromat. Jenkins was apprehended after the police observed the stolen van in Jesup, and he fled from the van. When he was arrested, Jenkins had Michael Ralston’s learner’s license in his pocket.

After sentence was imposed, District Attorney Higgins stated “that I did everything I could to make sure that this conviction will stick and withstand any appeal. Going forward, I will do everything I can to make sure that Jenkins will never be free to hurt anyone else.”

The District Attorney’s Office is grateful to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the Jesup Police Department, and the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office for their investigative work in the case, and the District Attorney’s Office is especially grateful to the many witnesses who were willing to come to court and testify after so many years.

Members of the media with further questions may contact the Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office at 912-554-7200.

April 2, 2025

Woodbine, GA – On April 2, 2025, a Camden County jury convicted 56-year-old Frank Patrick Kennedy and 29-year-old Anthony Scott Mistretta of Malice Murder, Felony Murder, Kidnapping, and multiple other felony charges in the brutal, torture and murder of 29-year-old John Andrew Mamph in a remote area of St. Marys off of Highway 40, which is locally known as “Gilligan’s Island.”

On July 5, 2023, the defendants beat and hog-tied Mamph near his homeless encampment at “Gilligan’s Island.”   The defendants then transported Mamph to a nearby boat ramp where they put him in a boat and took him out on a lake.  While Mamph was still tied up, the defendants then weighed him down with multiple weights and dumped him into the lake so he would drown.

Mamph’s body was discovered during the noon hour on the following day, July 6, by a local citizen who was jet-skiing with his family. The citizen observed the submerged body of Mr. Mamph in the clear water, returned to shore, and called 911. St. Marys police immediately responded to the scene and recovered the body and launched an investigation with the assistance of the Camden County Sheriff’s Office Special Operations dive team and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. That very night, law enforcement began making arrests based on eyewitness statements of the horrific crimes.

On behalf of the District Attorney’s Office for the Brunswick Judicial Circuit, Deputy Chief ADA Hal Moroz prosecuted the case by presenting 15 witnesses and dozens of evidentiary exhibits. Moroz called the successful prosecution, “the culmination of an outstanding team effort, involving superior community policing by the St. Marys Police Department, skilled assets from the Camden County Sheriff’s Office, and dogged determination and expert investigation by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.”

Immediately following the jury verdict, Superior Court Judge Anthony Harrison sentenced Defendants Kennedy and Mistretta to life in prison without the possibility of parole.  As a result of this  conviction and sentence, the two defendants will spend the rest of their natural lives in prison.

Before trial commenced, other defendants also charged in the case pled guilty to a multitude of felony charges. Debra Leane Dougherty, 38, pled guilty to Felony Murder and was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole. Dougherty will spend 30 years in prison before she is  eligible for parole. Defendant Bernice Rose McGuire, 27, pled guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Aggravated Assault, and has yet to be sentenced. Another Defendant, Megan Leigh Robison, 34, who initially lied to law enforcement about her knowledge of the events on July 5, 2023, pled guilty to Making a False Statement and was sentenced to 5 years probation.

March 18, 2025

The District Attorney’s Office for the Brunswick Judicial Circuit today announced the conviction of Alexandrea Jones for one count of Aggravated Battery in Glynn County Superior Court.   Jones will be sentenced at a hearing that will be held in June. Assistant District Attorney Kelvin Ansong and Assistant District Attorney Bryan Roy tried the case on behalf of the State over a period of two days.

On September 24, 2023, police officers responded to the Lanes and Games on New Jesup Highway in reference to a stabbing. When Officer Russell Dinkins with the Glynn County Police Department arrived, he observed the victim bleeding from the area of her mouth. The victim had organized a birthday party for her one-year-old child, and there were at least thirty people in the room, including family members of both the victim and the defendant’s family.

During the party, a fight broke out between the victim and the defendant during the party.  During this physical altercation, the defendant used a sharp object to slice the victim’s face open from the right corner of her mouth up into her right cheek area.  After almost a month of investigation, which included speaking to witnesses and reviewing surveillance videos from multiple angles, investigators with the Glynn County Police Department identified the defendant as the individual who was responsible for the crime.

At trial, the victim testified that she had uninvited the defendant and the defendant’s mother from her child’s birthday party because of their temperament. Since the child’s father, however, showed up at the birthday party, she did not want to make a scene when she saw his sister (the defendant) and her mother at the party.  Nevertheless, after the defendant arrived, a physical altercation did occur.

The State’s lead law enforcement officer, Sargeant Justin Floyd, with the Glynn County Police Department testified about the lengthy investigation that resulted in the identification of the defendant. Additionally, the State presented evidence in the form of photos and video surveillance footage that showed the defendant was engaged with the victim during the entire time of the altercation.

The District Attorney’s Office would like to thank the Glynn County Police Department, Sargeant Justin Floyd, Officer Russell Dinkins, and all other law enforcement officers for their tremendous work on this case.

Members of the media with further questions may contact the Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office at 912-554-7200.

December 20, 2024

District Attorney Keith Higgins announces that on Wednesday, December 18, 2024, Tyrique Dakwan Harris, 22, formerly of Brunswick, Georgia, was found guilty by a Glynn County jury of two counts of Armed Robbery, two counts of Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony, and one count of Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon. Due to the lack of cooperation of one of the victims, Harris was acquitted of one count of Armed Robbery and one count of Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony. On the day after he was convicted, Superior Court Judge Roger B. Lane sentenced Harris to imprisonment for life, plus an additional fifteen years.

The evidence at trial showed that Tyrique Harris committed a series of armed robberies on October 28, 2023. While the first victim was in his vehicle at Coastal Club Apartments, Harris approached him, threatened him, produced an assault-style rifle, and demanded his wallet and phone. Harris then ordered the victim to get out of his vehicle and attempted to move him to an isolated location. While Harris was trying to move the victim, Harris was slightly distracted, and the victim was able to get away.

A short while later, Harris approached a second victim, who was in a vehicle at the Palm Club Apartments. Producing the same assault-style rifle, Harris demanded the victim’s wallet and personal firearm before he fled the scene.

Through the diligent work of the Glynn County Police Department, the College of Coastal Georgia Police Department, and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, law enforcement was able to quickly identify Tyrique Harris as the gunman. Harris, whose face is adorned with multiple, distinct tattoos, was readily identified by the victims in a police line-up and again at trial when they pointed him out to jurors.

With the assistance of the United States Marshals Service, Harris was apprehended in Tallulah, Louisiana after fleeing the State of Georgia.

During questioning by GBI Special Agent Hunter Thompson, Harris brazenly made comments about how armed robberies are not a big deal, that they happen all the time, and they should be considered normal in 2024.  He also claimed that he was only being investigated because law enforcement had nothing better to do.

Senior Assistant District Attorney Bryan M. Roy, who prosecuted the case, stated that “Today is a great day for justice. Tyrique Harris’s days of victimizing the public are over. Let this serve as a warning: the District Attorney’s Office will not tolerate violent criminals terrorizing the citizens of this community. Through the diligent work of law enforcement and the bravery of the victims who came forward, our community is now a safer place because Harris is behind bars where he belongs.”

Members of the media with further questions may contact the Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office at 912-554-7200.

December 20, 2024

District Attorney Keith Higgins announces that on December 12, 2024, Khyree Jamal Turner, 32, of Brunswick, Georgia was tried and convicted of three counts of Aggravated Assault, one count of Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony, and one count of Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon. The evidence presented at trial showed that on Mother’s Day in 2023, Turner went to the home of the victims and fired a gun at three individuals. Taja Brown, of Brunswick, Georgia, was struck in the leg by one of the bullets that Turner fired. In an act of self-defense, a second victim shot back.

During the investigation, the Brunswick Police Department recovered a .380 shell casing from the crime scene that the GBI Crime Lab later determined had been fired from a Glock .380 handgun that was recovered from Turner’s bedroom. When attempting to serve the arrest warrant for the shooting, law enforcement arrested Turner while he was trying to escape through a rear window of his home

On Thursday, December 19, 2024, Superior Court Judge Roger B. Lane sentenced Turner to serve 55 years in prison.

Senior Assistant District Attorney Bryan M. Roy, who prosecuted the case, commented that “Mother’s Day should be a day of love and joy celebrating the women in our community.  Instead, Turner tried to resolve a petty dispute through an act of violence.  These senseless acts of violence will not be tolerated. The District Attorney’s Office will prosecute gun violence to the fullest extent of the law.”

Members of the media with further questions may contact the Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office at 912-554-7200.

October 8, 2024

The Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office today announced the guilty plea of Jalen L. Cook for four counts of Aggravated Assault (Counts 1-4) and one count of Possession of a Firearm during the Commission of a Felony (Count 5). Cook pled guilty in Glynn County Superior Court and was sentenced to 20 years to serve 18 years in the Department of Corrections for Count 1, 20 years to serve 18 for Counts 2-4 to be served concurrent to Count 1, and 5 years probated consecutive to Count 1 for Count 5 by Judge Stephen Scarlett. The prosecution team of Deputy Chief Whitney J. Gregory and Assistant District Attorney Ada Zeno took the plea before the Court.

On December 26, 2023, the day after Christmas, a young family of four were driving down Highway US-17 to Jekyll Island to celebrate Christmas with extended family. The husband-father was driving. The wife-mother was in the front passenger seat. In the back in car seats were their three-year-old and ten-month-old sons. As they approached an intersection near the ports at Joe Frank Harris Blvd by the Sidney Lanier Bridge, with a green light, two cars pulled out turning right without stopping or yielding (colloquially, a California roll). The Defendant was driving the second car to pull out without the right-of-way. The husband-father was forced to quickly maneuver the car to safety, and he did what any normal person would do and honked his horn. This apparently upset the Defendant, because the Defendant then merged back into the lane the victims were now in and rode on their back bumper in an aggressive manner. The Defendant then quickly zoomed over to the passenger-side of the victims’ vehicle and fired a 9mm into the window. The wife-mother was leaned forward looking in the mirror trying to fix her mascara. The bullet went through her chin, inches from killing her, and ricocheted off the husband-father’s chest. The Defendant fled the scene. Through their investigation using objective surveillance video, car registration records, and employee records, Glynn County detectives identified the Defendant as the shooter.

The trial was to commence on Monday, September 30. Instead, the Defendant decided to take an open-ended plea after having previously rejected a plea offer of a fixed term of years. The State presented photographic evidence and victim impact through live testimony. Notably, the wife-mother noted that her toddler frequently asks, “Is the bandit going to get us this time?”

Feeling “disrespected” on the road over an innocuous honk in reaction to a situation he caused is not justification for such gun violence. If the victim-mother was leaning just an inch forward, or if the speed of one of the cars was just slightly faster or slower, we could have been here for a murder.

The District Attorney’s Office would like to thank Glynn County Police Department, especially Det. Paxton Edgy for his tremendous work on this case.

Members of the media with further questions may contact the Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office at 912-554-7200.

August 30, 2024

District Attorney Keith Higgins announces that on Wednesday, August 28, 2024, Lanis Brown, 32, of Jesup, GA, was found guilty by a Wayne County jury of Voluntary Manslaughter and Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony for the shooting death of Zakkary Johnson, 24, also of Jesup. After the conviction, Superior Court Judge Anthony L. Harrison sentenced Brown to serve fifteen years in prison, to be followed by 10 years on probation.

The evidence presented at trial showed that Brown had been on a three-day methamphetamine binge when on February 3, 2023, he traveled to a shed that is located on Community Circle in Jesup. While at the shed, Brown used more methamphetamine with a female and two other people. When Zakkary Johnson arrived later, Brown and Johnson began arguing and then engaged in a physical altercation with one another. After separating from the physical altercation, Johnson continued to argue with Brown. Brown then pulled out a handgun and shot Johnson, fatally wounding him in the chest. After shooting Johnson, Brown fled the scene and was arrested four days later. When Brown was interviewed by law enforcement, he admitted to shooting Johnson, but claimed he had acted in self-defense. The jury only took three hours to return their guilty verdicts.

The case was prosecuted by Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Presley and Assistant District Attorney A.J. Smart. The lead investigator was Investigator Bruce Williams of the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office.

Members of the media with further questions may contact the Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office at 912-554-7200.