Release: Protective order added
The Fannin County High School (FCHS) student found with a kill/hate list on his computer remains free, but terms of that freedom have recently been changed.
Juvenile court decided to remove the suspect’s ankle monitor, but a protective order has been added.
The on going situation began Friday afternoon, February 14, when the list was discovered. The suspect was immediately removed from his classroom at FCHS, taken to an administrator’s office and turned over to School Resource Officers.
Soon afterwards he was placed on an ankle monitor for the weekend, a decision made by the Department of Juvenile Justice and the Appalachian Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s office, until a hearing could be held the following Monday.
At that hearing he was ordered detained at a youth detention facility for 10 days, the maximum allowable, pending another hearing. At the end of those days, he was released with an ankle monitor and several strict conditions pending another hearing.
At a recent hearing, the decision was made by the juvenile court to remove the ankle monitor, according to information received by The News Observer and confirmed by District Attorney Frank Wood III.
At the same time, a protective order was issued against the suspect and that protective order was extended to include the suspect’s father. Under Georgia law, that protective order, if violated, could apply to the father in the form of contempt of court, Wood explained. If the suspect were to violate any conditions of his release, any penalties could also apply to the father.
The suspect remains banned from all school system property, a penalty assessed by school system policy soon after the incident was discovered.
The juvenile has some 14 conditions of release, besides the protective order, from juvenile court. These include;
•He must attend online school, make every effort to pass every class, and have no disciplinary reports from the school;
•Not violate the law;
•Not possess or consume drugs, alcohol or tobacco products;
•Will obey the lawful commands of his/her parents or guardians and will have no disciplinary problems at home;
•There are to be no weapons or firearms in the home;
•There is to be no access to social media platforms;
•Must participate in the Ingenuity program;
•Is under house arrest;
•Is to have no access to FCHS whatsoever;
•Is to have no contact with named victims;
•Is to be under 24-hour supervision; and,
•Has permission to go to the grandmother’s if supervised by the father after 5 p.m.
Wood confirmed the conditions of the suspect’s release.
The suspect is charged with 16 counts of terroristic threats, one of those against a teacher, one count of Disruption of a Public School, and one count of Reckless conduct.
The suspect’s name is not being released because he is a juvenile.