2 Indicted, Trafficking Victim Found After GA Police Chase

ATLANTA — An Ohio man and woman were recently indicted on human trafficking charges after a 16-year-old girl reported missing from South Carolina was found during a Georgia police chase, Attorney General Chris Carr announced Wednesday in a news release.

According to the release, a Greene County deputy in the area of Greensboro on Aug. 2 saw a white Cadillac sedan improperly stop at the GA-15/GA-77 intersection.

The driver of the vehicle was identified by Carr's office as Anthony Holmes, 32. Jameesha Harris, 21, and the 16-year-old girl were also in the Cadillac.

The deputy tried to conduct a traffic stop on the vehicle, but Holmes was accused of speeding away from the scene and prompting a police chase. From Greene, Carr's office said Holmes entered Taliaferro County, where local deputies joined the chase and pitted the Cadillac.

Authorities then learned the teenage girl in the vehicle had been reported missing out of South Carolina after her family in Ohio had reported her missing.

The Greene County Sheriff's Office then requested the assistance of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's Human Exploitation and Trafficking Unit; and, the Attorney General’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit later joined the probe.

Carr's office said Holmes and Harris had taken the girl from South Carolina to Atlanta "to perform commercial sex acts."

"During the pursuit and the weeks that followed, deputies with the Greene County Sheriff’s Office and the Taliaferro County Sheriff’s Office also located a firearm, cocaine prepared for distribution and marijuana, among other evidence," Carr's office said in the release.

A Greene County grand jury indicted both Harris and Holmes, both of Cleveland, Ohio, on Oct. 31, Carr's office said.

Holmes was indicted on suspicion of the following charges, per Carr:

• One count of trafficking of persons for sexual servitude
• One count of trafficking in cocaine
• One count of possession of marijuana
• Two counts of possession of firearm during the commission of a felony
• One count of possession of firearm by a convicted felon
• One count of fleeing and attempting to elude police officer
• One count of window tint violation

Harris was indicted on suspicion of the following charges, per Carr:

• One count of trafficking of persons for sexual servitude
• One count of trafficking in cocaine
• One count of possession of marijuana
• Two counts of possession of firearm during the commission of a felony

“Yet another victim has been recovered, and two people who we allege were engaged in her trafficking are now facing serious charges,” Carr said in the release. “We’re proud of our strong partnerships with District Attorney Wright Barksdale, the Greene County Sheriff’s Office, the Taliaferro County Sheriff’s Office and GBI’s HEAT Unit as we fight to protect our most vulnerable Georgians. Together, we will continue to send a strong message that Georgia’s children are not for sale.”