PRISON ROUNDUP: April 2024

Then, there was one.

Shane Tassi, pictured at top left, now is the final defendant in the February 2023 shooting death of Syee Havior, who was a senior at Baldwin High.

The other three men implicated in the homicide – Tremon Washington, Malik Altravon Smith and Derrius Holmes – have all taken mirroring 20-year plea deals. Most recent to plea was Holmes, who drove the car that night, according to Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit prosecutors. Holmes pleaded guilty last week to one count of home invasion, receiving a straight 20-year prison sentence with no probation. Holmes also agreed to "testify fully and truthfully...should one of his co-defendants exercise their right to have a jury trial." That co-defendant is Tassi, who the District Attorney's Office has identified as the trigger man.

The incident occurred at Havior's family home on Black Springs Road. Tassi, according to the District Attorney's Office, began banging on the front door, while Washington and Smith remained in the yard. Holmes, meanwhile, never got out of the car, according to the D.A. Havior then answered the door, and Tassi became confrontational, asking "where Havior's father was," according to prosecutors.  Tassi then opened fire, striking Havior multiple times. Havior later passed away at an area hospital.

Tassi's legal prospects aren't looking great. Several weeks prior to the murder, he is accused of breaking into the same home and stealing several firearms, including an AR-15 military-style rifle. Then, at some point between the break-in and the homicide, Havior and "his brothers" "confronted" Tassi and took back possession of the AR-15.

Meanwhile, in the latest example of why it's never a good idea to ram a cop car and try to take a cop's gun, Wendell Glenn, III received five years behind bars and 15 more on probation. Glenn, pictured at top right, pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated assault upon a peace officer and attempted removal of weapon from police officer. In exchange, numerous other charges were dropped.

The incident began around 11 o'clock on a Saturday night in late October, when   a Milledgeville Police Department officer was approaching the four-way stop sign near Doles Boulevard, according to the officer's narrative in the incident report. Added the narrative: "As I was slowing down preparing to stop at the intersection, a black four door sedan approached on the west side of the intersection from East Montgomery Street and failed to stop at the stop sign and almost struck my vehicle as it turned. I looked in my driver’s sideview mirror and noticed the vehicle had crossed over the center line and was straddling the north and southbound lanes while traveling southbound."

The officer then activated his blue lights, and Glenn sped up, running the Elbert/Hancock red light, which caused two different vehicles to "slam on brakes to avoid the collision." The chase then picked up down Elbert Street and past Georgia Military College. Glenn then did a quick U-turn by the Shrimp Boat and then made a right onto Underwood Road. Once on Underwood Road, Glenn took out multiple mailboxes before turning onto Nelson Road, according to the incident report. That's when things became extra dicey. Added the narrative: "The driver made a big circle in the front yard of 475 Nelson Road before entering back onto the roadway of Nelson Road and drove straight at my vehicle. Before I had time to react, the driver intentionally struck my vehicle around my driver’s door and drivers’ side front tire. He then continued accelerating and began pushing my vehicle with his vehicle."

Glenn then took off on foot before falling into some bushes. At this point, according to the incident report, he threw his hands up and said "I give up!" That was just the beginning, however. Added the narrative: "I told Glenn to roll over and at that time Glenn stated, 'I’m not going back to jail, I just got out of jail," and then he proceeded to grab me which caused me to fall on top of him. I began to struggle with Glenn and during the struggle, I felt Glenn grabbing my holster.

"Glenn began pulling at my firearm at which time I grabbed my firearm and holster with my right hand, pulled it up into my hip and ribcage area to secure it and then struck Glenn several times in the chest, shoulder and head area with my radio that was still in my left hand. After this Glenn released his grip and I quickly pushed myself off him and fell back. Glenn then got back to his feet and as I was getting up, Glenn pushed me back down and began running away as I fell." Glenn, who "reeked of alcohol," began running again before tripping and falling in some more bushes again. After that was a foot chase through the woods behind Nelson Road. The officer ultimately was able to catch up and grab Glenn by Glenn's pullover, and another skirmish ensued. Backup arrived after several minutes, and Glenn ultimately was handcuffed.

Meanwhile, two Milledgeville men basically received "lifetime achievement awards" from the District Attorney's Office and were sent off to prison. Austin Dean Trease, pictured at bottom left, has been arrested 10 times in the last nine years. He also has found legal trouble in Texas and was extradited to the Lone Star State following a 2022 arrest. Trease has spent at least 30 days in the county jail on five different occasions, and this time he's going to state prison. The plea deal stems from an April 28, 2023 incident, when a deputy received a Flock Security camera "ping" about a stolen car in the area of Kings Road. The deputy then spotted the vehicle leaving the Whiskey Tunnel liquor store, and a chase began, one that eventually reached speeds of more than 100 miles per hour. Trease eventually outran several deputies before ultimately crashing the stolen Chrysler 200 into a ditch near the Hancock County line. He was arrested and charged with trafficking methamphetamine, possession of methamphetamine, fleeing/attempting to elude, as well as a number of other traffic-related charges. As part of the plea deal, the drug charges were dropped, as a crime lab ultimately concluded that the meth wasn't the real stuff.

Felontae Simmons recently pleaded guilty to aggravated assault/family violence and aggravated stalking and was sentenced to 15 years behind bars and another 15 on probation. As part of the plea deal, a charge of first degree cruelty to children was lessened to battery. Simmons, pictured at bottom right, has been booked at the county jail 20 different times. In the past, Simmons has served at least two months in the county jail on nine different occasions, although this is the first time that he's ever been sentenced to prison. Included on his rap sheet are multiple aggravated stalking and family violence charges.

Finally, a man is headed to prison after essentially shooting a burglar in the back while the burglar was "running away." Herbert Lee Ingram, 37, pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated assault and received five years behind bars and another 15 on probation. A deputy responded to a "shots fired" call in the 260 block of Pettigrew Road back in October of last year. Upon seeing the deputy's vehicle entering his driveway, Ingram "raised his hand, placed them behind his back and stated, 'I shot him because he was in my house,'" according to an incident report.

Ingram and his sister arrived at the house after noticing some suspicious activity on a security app. Ingram spotted the burglar near the front door, identified as Brandon Davis. The District Attorney's Office contends that Ingram then shot Davis twice while Davis "was running away from the scene." The deputies then responded to Davis' home, where Davis was bleeding from being shot "once in the shoulder and once in the hip." Davis relayed to deputies that he "had used methamphetamine earlier in the day."

Ingram had a very minimal criminal history, which consisted of one single arrest back in 2006 for drug possession.

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