REMINDER: ALICE DRIVE DETOUR STARTS TODAY WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2014 | SUMTER, SOUTH CAROLINA
VOL. 119, NO. 83 WWW.THEITEM.COM
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Stinney hearing begins
BRISTOW MARCHANT / THE ITEM
Katherine Stinney Robinson — the 79-year-old sister of George Stinney, who was executed by the State of South Carolina in 1944 after being found guilty of killing two young Alcolu girls — testifies Tuesday morning at the Sumter County Judicial Center during a hearing to determine whether to grant her brother a new trial posthumously.
Case of executed 14-year-old boy back in S.C. courtroom BY BRISTOW MARCHANT bmarchant@theitem.com Almost 70 years after his death, George Stinney’s fate is once again in the hands of a South Carolina court. The first time, 14-year-old Stinney was convicted and executed for the murder of two young girls found dead outside the town of Alcolu. On Tuesday morning, with the national media spotlight focused on the Sumter
County Judicial Center, Stinney’s surviving relatives asked a judge to overturn that conviction and grant their late brother a new trial. In 1944, two young STINNEY white girls, Betty June Binnicker and Mary Thames, disappeared after they went out to pick flowers and were later found dead in a shallow ditch with head wounds.
The same day, black youth Stinney was arrested, quickly convicted and executed in a racially charged atmosphere, becoming the youngest American put to death in the 20th century. Representing the Stinney family, attorneys from the Manning law firm of Coffey, Chandler and McKenzie presented evidence from George Stinney’s siblings they contend couldn’t have been presented at
More military families opting to teach their kids at home BY RAYTEVIA EVANS revans@theitem.com A number of military families are opting to home school their children while living on various bases across the country. Because military families often move around, their children often attend multiple schools before graduating. To make transitions a little easier, many have started to home school their children. Rachel Ward with Homeward Education Association said the association serves about 300 families in the Sumter area who home school their children, meaning about 600 or more children are home schooled in the area, including some whose parents are members of the military. “Military families do a lot of moving around to different states. Home schooling creates stability for the children when they have to pick up and move,” Ward said.
‘Home schooling for our kids has created a constant. That constant provides closeness between siblings and an understanding with other children whose parents are in the military and move often as well.’
Gigi Prichard Gigi Prichard and her family have moved 11 times during her husband’s 20 years with the Air Force. They have four children, ages ranging from 6 to 14, with the 6-year-old having lived in five states so far. Prichard said she has home schooled her children in several different
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SEE STINNEY, PAGE A6
Crime drops in Sumter in 2013
states, and it has created a sense of community in each of their locations. Her oldest child attends Thomas Sumter Academy and really enjoys it. But before to attending TSA, Prichard said she home schooled her daughter along with her other children. “Home schooling for our kids has created a constant. That constant provides closeness between siblings and an understanding with other children whose parents are in the military and move often as well,” she said. The societal stigma about home schooling usually references the lack of social opportunities and bonding with other children. However, families who decide to home school build their own community and interact with each other and get involved in their towns, Ward explained. Prichard said she has home
Police report 6.6 percent drop in citywide criminal activity
SEE HOME SCHOOLING, PAGE A8
SEE CRIME, PAGE A8
BY TYLER SIMPSON tyler@theitem.com The annual report on crime statistics from the Sumter Police Department reveals an overall reduction in crime in the city. Sumter Police Chief Russell Roark attributed the drop in large part to department’s numerous attempts to reach out to the community. According to the reports, Sumter saw a 6.59 percent decrease in crime while the department has surpassed national averages in the number of crimes solved. The statistics show that murder saw a huge drop with a 66.7 percent from six in
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20 N. Magnolia St. Sumter, SC 29150 (USPS 525-900)
Stinney’s trial in 1944. George’s brother Charles Stinney testified his family was told to leave their Alcolu home by his father’s employers just hours after George Stinney was taken from the house by law enforcement. “We had to leave that night,” he said in a videotaped deposition from his home in New York.
Abraham Thomy Richard E. Lawrence Robert Hammond Mildred Moore-Helton
TYLER SIMPSON / THE ITEM
Sumter Police Chief Russell Roark speaks to city council on Tuesday.
2012 to two in 2013, while huge drops were also seen in auto breakins by 28.61 percent and
OUTSIDE CLEAR AND COLD
Theolander M. Taylor Edward Hilton Ann Lucas B6
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Mostly sunny and much colder in the day; clear to partly cloudy at night; very cold. HIGH: 38 LOW: 22 A8
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