Etowah Students Plead Not Guilty To Planning To Kill Classmates

WOODSTOCK, GA — The two Etowah High School students accused of planning to carry out a deadly attack against their classmates and staff members have pleaded not guilty to the charges outlined in last month's indictment. The attorneys for Victoria Gabrielle McCurley and Alfred Dupree III entered the pleas on their behalf, as they both waived the formal arraignment scheduled for Wednesday, said Cherokee County District Attorney Shannon Wallace.

Canton defense attorney Barry Bishop, who is representing McCurley in the case, confirmed those details with Patch Wednesday afternoon. Court records show Dupree is being represented by Woodstock-based attorney Paul Ghanouni.

McCurley and Dupree were each indicted in December by a grand jury on six counts of conspiracy to commit murder and one count each of conspiracy to commit arson and unlawful possession of a destructive device, court records show.

The pair were arrested in October after the Cherokee Sheriff's Office was notified by the Cherokee County Schools Police Department of threats made against the school. An investigation and search of the students' homes launched by detectives unearthed a personal journal/diary, a "homemade incendiary device, which was described as a flammable substance, and an undetermined powder (sic) substance," sheriff's office Sgt. Marianne Kelley previously told Patch.

According to the indictment, the students came up with a "kill list" that had the names of their classmates and at least one staff member at Etowah. They are also accused of creating a map of a portion of the school and collecting and preparing flammable and explosive materials to "knowingly damage, by means of fire and explosives," Etowah High School.

The indictment also charges the students planned to use those items to "kill, injure and intimidate students and staff at Etowah High School; and to destroy Etowah High School."

Their arrest warrants were sealed by a judge, so no other details related to the case have been made public at this time.

Photo: from left, Alfred Dupree of Acworth and Victoria McCurley of Woodstock. Credit: Cherokee Sheriff's Office