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Published Sunday, January 15, 2012 in Local

Public's help needed to solve Newnan, Coweta homicide 'cold cases'

By John Winters

The Newnan Times-Herald

While the cases remain open, Newnan and Coweta County law enforcement officials say they are at a "standstill" on two homicides and a fatal hit-and-run and have exhausted leads.

Those cases involve Carl Anthony Smith, who was beaten to death; Carlos Musante Barber, who was shot; and Curtis Rodriguez Mitchell, who died at the scene after being hit by a car. All occurred in Newnan, with one going back more than 12 years.

The Coweta County Sheriff's Office also has an unsolved homicide, a woman missing for 10 years whose body was discovered last summer.

"These are still open cases," Rodney Riggs, deputy chief with the Newnan Police Department, said about the city cases. "We are asking the public, anyone who has information, to please contact the police."

In the Smith and Barber cases, simply based on the evidence, police believe others know something, but have not come forward.

"We are confident people in the community have information about these cases," Riggs said.

Smith was beaten by at least two people, although Riggs believes "multiple people were involved."

In the Barber shooting, several witnesses heard the shots and saw someone leaving the scene.

People of interest were investigated in those two cases, but police were never able to develop a solid suspect, Riggs said.

Following are recaps of the four cases based on published reports and police interviews:

•••

ANN MARGARET BERRY

Ann Margaret Berry's remains were discovered in April of 2011 in west Coweta County. A missing person report was filed by her sister on July 1991.

Berry was 29 at the time of her disappearance and lived at 818 Welcome-to-Arnco Road. A human skull and other remains were found in a shallow grave, wrapped in a trash bag, in the woods in the 900 block of Welcome-to-Arnco Road.

She was identified through DNA samples from family members, according to Maj. Jimmy Yarbrough with the Coweta County Sheriff's Office.

"We are still looking for a cause and manner of death," Yarbrough said. "But we are definitely treating this as a homicide."

A 14-year-old found the remains while digging a fire pit about 30 yards beyond the wood line behind the family residence.

•••

CURTIS RODRIGUEZ MITCHELL

Curtis Rodriguez Mitchell's body was found by a passerby in the southbound lanes of Newnan Crossing Bypass. Mitchell, 30, was the victim of a hit-and-run on Feb. 4, 2010. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Mitchell was last seen alive by his sister around 2:30 a.m. on Feb. 4. Authorities believe the passerby noticed Mitchell soon after the accident.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation determined the vehicle involved was likely dark gray in color and most likely a Toyota or Nissan, based on car parts and other evidence at the scene.

Police used the Georgia Crime Information Center to find people with cars fitting that description. They found four, but all were cleared. Detectives also visited surrounding body shops and conducted a license check on the bypass days after the fatal accident, but nothing has panned out.

•••

CARLOS MUSANTE BARBER

Twenty-eight-year-old Carlos Mustante Barber was shot at least twice at his home in 2003. Several witnesses said they heard shots and saw a person fleeing the scene moments later.

Barber lived in Newnan's southeast side at the corner of Fairmount Drive and Landers Street. The incident occurred Jan. 15, 2003, around 8 p.m.

Barber's friends ran to the house and found him lying on the floor in the kitchen and called 911. Robbery was the apparent motive.

Authorities recovered evidence that indicated that the suspect fled the home in the general direction of the railroad tracks near Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.

•••

CARL ANTHONY SMITH

Carl Anthony Smith was 24 when he showed up at a convenience store in the middle of the night with what ended up being a fatal head wound.

About 3:30 a.m. on Sept. 26, 1997, an attendant working at what was then the Hot Spot convenience store and gas station on the corner of Greenville Street and Sewell Road called 911 after Smith came in with a "severe gash" in his head.

Smith, who lived on Poplar Road, told authorities that he was attacked by several people with sticks. He then passed out, never regained consciousness and died later that day at an Atlanta area hospital.

An autopsy revealed that the head wound caused his death, but also indicated Smith had been involved in a fight.

Smith apparently left Eastgate Apartments on foot and walked the railroad tracks that run through the Fairmount area, an investigation determined. The fatal attack likely occurred on the path from Greenville Street to Haynie Street crossing the railroad tracks.