Andrew Felton III, a troubling tale of woe
Charged as a First Offender in 2019 shooting, he's back in for another shooting.
The streets of Coweta County are once again free of the menace that is Andrew Felton III, 22.
Felton was arrested on warrants by the Coweta County Sheriff’s Department on April 24th, 2023 at a residence off Red Oak Dr.
According to reports from that Incident, Deputies located 3 pistols, one of which was an Encom MP45, 5 magazines, a carrying case, and a gram of Marijuana.
What follows is the tale of Felton’s criminal activity, legal history, and what seems to be a series of missed opportunities to halt his criminal behavior.
A quick summary of events for those not looking to read the details.
In January of 2019, CCSO Deputies responded to a shooting at the Shenandoah Apartments at 8 Forest Circle in Newnan. While no one was arrested that night, investigators were able to tie Felton to the shooting.
In March of 2019, Felton was arrested and charged with Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon and Possession of Firearm during the Commission of a Crime. During his arrest, he was found in possession of two stolen guns and a small amount of weed.
In July of 2019, he was Indicted by a Grand Jury on charges of Robbery, Aggravated Assault, and two counts of Possession of a firearm during the commission of a Felony.
In September of 2021, the Court would join the cases of the shooting and the stolen guns and Felton would enter a Non-Negotiated Plea of Guilty under the states First Offender Law.
He would be sentenced to 10 years, 3 years to serve in confinement, the rest to be served on probation with special conditions – one of which was to bar him from being inside Coweta County for the duration of his probation. Given credit for time served, at the time of his pleading he had roughly 5 months left to serve in confinement.
In March of 2022, if he served the full 3 years he would have been released from state prison. Somewhere between then and June of 2022 he would be involved in an incident in Colquitt County, GA that resulted in a warrant for his arrest.
In late June 2022, Deputies responding to Shenandoah Apartments for a report of males in the parking lot with guns and drugs, would find Felton with a gun, drugs and a child. He would run from deputies before being caught right after and arrested.
He would spend just 5 days in jail, before being released to Colquitt County for his warrant there. He was released from Colquitt County on an unknown date.
On July 23rd, 2022, CCSO Deputies would respond to a dispute at a Air BnB off Poplar Road, where shots were fired. While no one was arrested that night, 2 suspects would be arrested in the following months and a warrant would be sworn against Felton for Reckless Conduct.
On July 27th, 2022, CCSO Deputies would respond to a shooting, again at Shenandoah Apartments. This time a juvenile was hit in the groin and life flighted to Atlanta. Again, no one would be arrested that night, however 2 suspects would be arrested in the coming months and another warrant would be sworn out on Felton, this time for Aggravated Assault with a Firearm.
On April 24th, 2023, Deputies with the CCSO would locate and arrest Andrew Felton III, at a location off Red Oak Dr just west of Newnan. In his possession would be 3 hand guns and drugs.
On May 12th, 2023, the GA Dept. of Community Management would violate his probation and request adjudication of guilt and confinement for the remaining term on his 2019 sentence. The filing shows that Felton, from the time of his release from prison, never followed any of the conditions of his Probation.
The long and much more detailed version
On January 19th, 2019 around 1 PM in the afternoon, officers with the CCSO responded to the Shenandoah Forest Apartments after receiving multiple calls about a person being shot in the complex. Deputies would respond to a hectic scene, hearing gun shots as they arrived and a victim that left the scene.
Deputies on scene would gather as much information as possible, with Deputies noting in their report that “None of the callers to 911 were willing to meet with me to give any witness accounts of the incident.” One witness that was willing to provide information stated that there was a subject, known to her as Andrew, that had been causing issues in the apartment complex since he moved in. She also stated that he’d moved from Ohio.
The following were also collected as evidence, nine (9) 9mm shell casings, sixteen (16) .22 casings, and one (1) 7.62×39 shell casing. The latter round is most commonly fired from AK style rifles.
Deputies were unable to locate any suspect the night of the shooting and Investigators started their work in the case. During their investigation they were able to identify a suspect in the shooting and swear out arrest warrants.
The fruit of their labor culminated in the arrest of Andrew Felton on March 12th, 2019. Felton at the time lived within the complex. During his arrest he was found to be in possession of two guns, a Mossberg Model 88 and a Browning Rifle. Both guns were stolen from separate individuals. He was also found in possession of less than an ounce of Marijuana.
Felton was booked on the following charges from the warrants stemming from the January 19th, 2019, incident:
Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon, a felony
Possession of a Firearm during the commission of Certain Crimes, a misdemeanor.
He was also booked on the following charges for the stolen items and drugs he was found in possession of during his arrests:
Two (2) counts of Theft by Receiving Stolen Property, both felonies
Possession of Marijuana, less than an Ounce, a misdemeanor.
The charges would generate two separate cases within the Coweta County Superior Court.
On July 8th, 2019, Felton would be Indicted by the Coweta County Grand Jury on the following charges relating to the January 19th incident:
Robbery, a felony
Aggravated Assault, a felony
Possession of a Firearm During Commission of Felony, a felony
Possession of a Firearm During Commission of Felony, a felony.
The indictment on 2 charges of Possession of a Firearm During the commission of a Felony is due to the fact he had a gun when committing both the Robbery and Aggravated Assault, meaning you get one count for each felony you commit while in possession of the firearm.
The Grand Jury Indictment was needed for the January 19th incident due to the fact it was not witnessed by law enforcement and was based on evidence. The charges stemming from what he was in possession of during his arrest were charged under an Accusation, sworn to by the Deputies that arrested him and conducted the search.
According to the court docket Felton’s defense attorney, who was defending him on both cases, made a Motion for Bond verbally during a September 28th, 2020 court hearing. The Court ordered bond for Felton in the amount of $35,000 per case for a total of $70,000. As part of the order, the Court also put the following conditions on Felton if he were to make bond: Appear in Court on all occasions as directed by the Court, stay away from all victims named in the case, not possess any firearms, that Felton shall not enter Coweta County unless to come to court or meet with his Attorney, and finally that he not commit any crimes, anywhere.
On July 27th, 2021, Felton, acting Pro Se, would petition the court for a reduction in the bond amount.
While nothing in the docket shows a ruling by the Court for this petition, we can know from incarceration records from the Coweta County Jail that Felton was never released on bond.
On September 28th, 2021 two things happened. First, the two separate cases were joined by an Order of the Court for sentencing purposes, and secondly, Felton, through his lawyer, would enter a non-negotiated guilty plea on all charges from both cases.
As part of the guilty plea, Felton was sentenced under the state’s First Offender Law. The effect on this sentencing was to defer an adjudication of Guilt and allow for the suspect to petition for the charges to be discharged upon completion of the Court’s sentence. An individual is only allowed to avail themselves of this status if they have no previous felonies and are only allowed to do so once in their life.
The sentencing for each charge breaks down as follows:
On 2019R000558, the case and charges for the Jan 19th incident
Count 1 – Robbery – 5 years
Count 2 – Aggravated Assault – 5 years, to served concurrent with Count 1
Count 3 – Possession of Firearm – Commission of a – 5 years, to be served consecutively with Count 1
Count 4 – Possession of Firearm – Commission of a Felony – 5 years, to be served concurrently with Count 3.
In total he was sentenced to 10 years for these charges.
On 2019R000512, the case and charges stemming from his arrest:
Count 1 – Theft by Receiving Stolen Property – 3 years
Count 2 – Theft by Receiving Stolen Property – 3 years, to be served concurrently.
Count 3 – VGCSA – Possession of Marijuana – 12 Months, to be served concurrently.
In total he was sentenced to 3 years for these charges, though with the case being joined, the sentence from this case is satisfied by the sentenced incarceration in the other.
According to the Final Disposition form completed by the court, they summarize his sentence as the following:
“The Defendant is sentenced for a total of 10 Years, with the first 3 years to be served in confinement and the remainder to be served on probation. The defendant is to receive credit for time served in custody: from 3/13/2019,” also “Upon service of 3 years, the remainder of the sentence may be served on probation; PROVIDED, that the Defendant shall comply with the Conditions of Probation imposed by the Court as part of this sentence.”
It’s important to note that Felton was sentenced to 3 years in confinement but was given credit from his date of arrest on 3/13/2019. Given the dates, Felton was credited with 931 days at the time of his sentence, leaving him to serve just another 164 days, or roughly 5 months, incarcerated before being released on probation for 7 years.
Aside from the normal conditions of probation, an Inventory of Special Conditions of Probation was entered on the Docket. The Special Conditions notated for this case are the following:
The Defendant shall report to the Probation Office [ upon release ],
The Defendant shall preform 80 hours of community service,
Probation Management Act Sentencing Options System,
Fourth Amendment waiver,
Specimen; admissibility,
Limited or no contact [ Defendant shall: stay 100 yards from – it doesn’t state who ],
Records release,
Evaluation and treatment [ … provide verification of evaluation and/or treatment for: mental health … and anger management… ],
Diploma, GED, or training certificate,
Curfew [ as established by the Probation Officer ],
Bar order [ The defendant shall not enter the confines of: Coweta County, during the period of probation for any reason whatsoever ].
To summarize, Felton was to leave the Court that day, remain in custody with another 194 days to serve. After he was released, he was to report to probation and was barred from coming within Coweta County for a period of 7 years.
According to a Release Report from the Coweta County Jail, on October 12th, 2021, Felton was transferred out of Jail and turned over to a State Prison. At this date, he’d have 150 days left to serve.
The prison that Felton was turned over to, as well as his exact date of release, cannot be confirmed as state law prohibits publishing of this information for prisoners sentenced under the First Offender Law. Doing the math, he would have been scheduled for release around March 11th, 2022.
The post prison crime spree
Using information from a Release Report obtained from the Coweta County Jail for an incident we are about to cover, we can tell that at some point during the time Felton got out of jail and June 28th, 2022, Felton was involved in an incident in Colquitt County, Georgia, that resulted in him having a warrant. While we’ve been unable to get court records from Colquitt County at this time, we learn from a June 29th, 2022, post on the Moultrie Observer website, that he was booked into the Colquitt County Jail for “Willful obstruction of Law Enforcement.”
On June 23rd, 2022, Felton was arrested after CCSO units responded to Shenandoah Forrest Apartments after receiving a 911 call reporting there were a group of males with guns smoking drugs in the parking lot with children in the area. Radio traffic of the incident reveals that someone, believed to be Felton due to his charges from the incident, ran from Deputies. They were quickly caught. Two arrests were made in connection with that incident. Felton was booked into the Coweta County Jail on the following charges:
Weapon – Firearm Possession by a Convicted Felon or Felony First Offender, Etc., a felony
Obstruction of Officers, a misdemeanor
Child – Contributing to delinquency unruliness deprivation of a minor, a misdemeanor
Despite this entire incident, and his arrest, being a clear violation of his probation, booking records show that Felton was to turned over to Colquitt County for his warrant or, if they didn’t pick him up, to be given a bond of $3,500. This was Ordered by Judge Stokely.
On June 28th, 2022, Colquitt County traveled to Coweta County and took custody of Felton. Its unknown how long he was detained in Colquitt County.
On July 23rd, 2021, Deputies with the CCSO responded to a residence off Poplar Road after 911 received a call stating there was an active dispute at the location. The first Deputy to arrive states in his report that upon arriving at the residence he noticed a large number of vehicles in the yard, as well as on the side of the road. He also observed a dispute outside the residence amongst a large group of people. As he approached the front of the residence, he heard a single gun shot originating from a vehicle. Once the shot was discharged, vehicles and people fled in different directions. He was unable to discern which vehicle the shot had come from.
No one was hit by the shot and when deputies identified a vehicle that appeared to have a window shot out in the front yard, the owner stated it’d been that way for some time.
While investigating, Deputies learned that the residence had been rented via Air BnB. They were given 3 names by witnesses on scene as the individuals that had shot, one of which was Andrew.
No arrests were made that night, however Investigators would arrest Shemar Walker on September 2nd, 2022, and Khamarious Wright on September 13th, 2022, for misdemeanor Reckless Conduct. A warrant would be issued for Andrew Felton for the same charge.
Four days later, on July 27th, 2022, CCSO Deputies would again respond to the Shenandoah Forest Apartments for reports of a shooting.
This time, a juvenile victim was found laying on the ground with a bullet wound to the groin. Again, the suspects had fled the scene and information from witnesses was hard to come by.
Investigators were able to make a quick arrest however, with the arrest of Lataria Whitley the next day for Assault Aggravated with Firearm/Knife, a felony. On September 15th, 2022, Jaylen Florence would be arrested and charged with Assault Aggravated with a Firearm, a felony. This would leave Felton with a warrant for Aggravated Assault with a Firearm a felony.
Deputies with the CCSO would find Felton on April 24th, 2023, and arrest him on the warrants for both of the July 2022 incidents. He would again be in possession of guns and drugs at the time of his arrest, adding more charges.
By all accounts, the warrant issued by Colquitt County in the months after his release from prison, and more notably, his arrest in June of 2022 in Coweta County, should have resulted in his being charged with Violation of Probation. Instead, he was released both times.
It would not be until May 12th, 2023, weeks after his latest arrest, that the Georgia Department of Community Supervision would violate his probation and submit a Petition for Adjudication of Guilt and Imposition of Sentence in First Offender Case.
In their Petition, we learn even more about Felton’s actions post release as they enumerate his violations in support of the petition.
The GA Dept of Community Supervision states that Felton violated the following conditions of his probation:
General Condition 1: Do not violate the criminal laws of any government unit and be of general good behavior – to wit they state he violated by being arrested in June and being charged in the July 27th shooting. They don’t mention the Reckless Conduct charge on July 23rd..
Special Condition 2: The Defendant shall perform 80 hours of community service – they state he has failed to work any community service hours.
Special Condition 16: Evaluation and treatment for mental health and anger management – they state he’s provided no proof of completion of either.
Special Condition: Enter and Complete the DRC program – they state he was removed from the Clayton DRC program for non-compliance with the program.
The Motion for Adjudication has been set for a hearing on June 8th, 2023.
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