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Published Thursday, January 14, 2010 in Local

Close to 200 enter pleas at Wednesday arraignment

By Elizabeth Richardson

The Times-Herald

Arraignment was held for the January term of Coweta Superior Court Wednesday at the Coweta County Justice Center, and close to 200 defendants went before Superior Court Judge William F. Lee to enter a plea to their charges.

All of the defendants in high-profile cases -- including murder, involuntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, armed robbery, burglary and child molestation -- entered pleas of not guilty. Their cases will now be scheduled for trial unless a plea negotiation can be reached.

Jose Cruz Hernandez and Reynaldo Perez Robero both face charges of felony murder and aggravated assault in the Jan. 24, 2008, fatal stabbing of Luis Hernandez at a residence on Thompson Street. Their trial date has been scheduled for Feb. 8, according to a spokesperson for the Coweta County District Attorney's Office.

Joseph Chad Taylor is charged in a separate case with two counts of involuntary manslaughter, distribution of Methadone, distribution of Alprazolam and distribution of Lortab in the drug-related death of 19-year-old Susan Elizabeth Weaver on Feb. 1, 2009. Taylor is scheduled for trial on January 25, according to the district attorney's office.

The victim in the fatal stabbing, Luis Hernandez, was found bleeding and unresponsive the evening of Jan. 24, 2008, in front of a house at 16 Thompson St. around 10 p.m. The victim was stabbed numerous times in the neck during an altercation that took place at the residence.

Police believe that Jose Cruz Hernandez and Robero -- both illegal immigrants -- ganged up on the victim, one holding the victim while the other repeatedly stabbed him.

Luis Hernandez -- also an illegal immigrant -- died on Feb. 14, 2008, at Atlanta Medical Center.

In the separate involuntary manslaughter case, Taylor is alleged to have administered a deadly amount of narcotics to Weaver on Jan. 31.

Weaver was dropped off at a friend's residence on Witcher Circle by her mother on Jan. 31. At approximately 2 a.m., Weaver crossed the street to Taylor's residence, located at 19 Witcher Circle.

Taylor told police that he woke up at 9 a.m. and, thinking Weaver was still asleep, left the house to get breakfast. When he returned, according to the report, he noticed Weaver had vomited and was no longer breathing. Other occupants of the home attempted to perform CPR on Weaver while Taylor called 911.

The victim's mother arrived on the scene during the ordeal because she had been unable to reach her daughter on her cell phone after she didn't come home.

The Coweta County Sheriff's Office launched an investigation into the incident given the "suspicious nature in which the 19-year-old was found dead."

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation's Atlanta Crime Lab released toxicology and autopsy reports that confirmed Weaver's official cause of death was the narcotics that Taylor allegedly administered to the victim. He was then taken into custody and charged with her death.