Neighborhood Rocked By Murders Sees Hope In New Park

CANTON, GA — A grim milestone will pass on Saturday, Nov. 25, which marks five months to the day when two men were shot and killed in a neighborhood outside a north Georgia community's historic downtown district. Since the double homicides, along with two reports of shootings in the area, the city of Canton has taken a proactive role in protecting the rights of residents, particularly children, to have a safe and peaceful life.

One of these initiatives involved restoring an old park at the heart of the neighborhood anchored by Jefferson Circle, Burge Street and Crisler Street. The city held a ribbon cutting Nov. 17 for the renovations to Burge Park, a project that included resurfacing and improving the basketball court, installing a new fence and putting in a new playground set.

Canton has also repaved the community's three main streets and added security cameras at the park, said city spokesperson Angela Thompson. In the future, a locally-made swing will be added to the amenities at the park.

"The neighboring property owners have been very happy with the park improvements," she said. "We will continue to work with citizens and churches in the area to build strong partnerships and keep Burge Park safe."

The series of events that forced Canton into action began with police receiving a call of a shooting around 11:25 p.m. June 25 in the area of Crisler Street. Those officers arrived in the area to find "several persons had been shot and seriously injured," Police Chief Mark Mitchell previously told Patch.

One victim was found dead in the grassy area adjacent to Crisler Street while another male discovered wounded inside a residence off Jefferson Circle. An additional victim was also found shot inside a vehicle on the scene.

Two of the gunshot victims, William Kendrick Randall, 23, of Canton and 26-year-old Tony Samples of Ball Ground both, died in the shooting. The male victim found wounded inside the home was transported to an area hospital and survived the shooting.

Five people have been charged in connection to the shooting: Akilee Zakee Wilson, who faces two counts each of felony murder and aggravated assault; Jeremy Ulysses Zellous, who is charged with felony murder, aggravated assault, making false statements and tampering with evidence; Temarlos Marquarous Turner and Brody Austin Samples, who are each facing two counts each of felony murder and aggravated assault; and Joseph C. Goldback Jr. of Jasper, who is charged with obstruction of an officer.

Along with the double homicides, Canton detectives were also called back to the area at least twice for reports of shots fired in the same area. A July 11 shooting resulted in the arrest of three men while the perpetrators behind another shooting reported Nov. 14 remain at large.

The events surrounded that summer evening's fatal shootings left the community, made up of mostly working class residents, in a state of shock, fear and outrage. This sense of unease not only propelled the city government to announce improvements, it also encouraged the Canton Police Department to beef up patrols around the residences and the three churches that call the neighborhood home.

The police department has maintained that the shootings were not random, as the individuals involved knew each other, and they occurred "after a confrontation involving two opposing groups." Chief Mark Mitchell is also getting out ahead of any perceptions that may label this area, which is less than a mile from the police headquarters, as being more prone to crime than other parts of the city.

The department's review of data over the last several years indicates Crisler Street and Jefferson Circle are "no different than other parts of our community and is not noted as a problem area anymore than any other part of our city," he said.

"We know there are very good people who live in this area who want, expect and deserve a very good quality of life just as other citizens expect in other segments of our town," the chief told Patch.

To help meet this expectation, the police department has been consisted in its quest to establish trust and build long-lasting partnerships with residents and stakeholders and actively promotes its community-oriented policing programs. Some of these projects include the popular Coffee with a Cop series, Easter egg hunts, a neighborhood cook out and a walk of unity against violence.

Since it stepped up these various initiatives two and a half years ago, Mitchell said the response from the community at large has been "very positive," as it demonstrates that officers are just as committed to protecting residents in this part of town as they are in areas where citizens may have a little more money in their pockets or food in their pantries.

"We are in close, regular contact with the pastors and several members of each church on Crisler Street and other churches in our area in an effort to keep them informed as to what is going on in the community and police department," Mitchell said.

The Burge Park renovations are also key in showing the community that its government also has a vested interest in making sure its residents can walk outside and enjoy their neighborhood without fear, said Canton Mayor Gene Hobgood. Hobgood, who has been mayor for nearly 10 years, said the residents he's talked to have praised the city for fast-tracking improvements he said were previously talked about but, for whatever reason, placed on the back burner.

"The problems out there may have help precipitated movement," he said.

In the near future, community stakeholders have talked about installing a swing set and benches where parents can sit and watch their children play at the park, the mayor said. For the immediate area outside Burge Park, the city is also eyeing what can be done to improve the amount of space each home is allotted for driveway usage. Since quite a few homes sit so close to the road and have minimum yard and driveway space, residents are forced to park their vehicles along Crisler Street, which is already narrow and has no shoulder space.

Hopefully, current and future improvements will provide give the community a "little more peace of mind and security," Hobgood said.

"They need to be able to outside and go to the park," he added. "We just got to give a lot more attention to the area."

Images via Angela Thompson/city of Canton