A woman charged in connection with the death of a toddler in Canton is now charged with second-degree murder in the case, police announced Friday.
Phillissa Diallo, from Canton, was arrested Wednesday and charged with second degree cruelty to children and concealing a death, Canton Police Department reported. Friday, detectives secured an additional felony warrant and have charged Diallo with second-degree murder.
According to the Canton Police Department, police received a walk-in report of a deceased toddler found inside a residence and responded at about 4:10 p.m. Wednesday to a home on Hearthstone Landing Drive, where they found the body of a female toddler. GBI Crime Lab will examine the body to determine the cause of death and identification confirmation.
The toddler’s death remains under investigation.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Canton Police Department.
A north Georgia DJ was killed in a crash on Interstate 575 near Canton Thursday.
According to the Cherokee Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded at about 3 p.m. Thursday on Interstate 575 south near the Old Vandiver Road overpass.
Preliminary indications are that Daniel Blankowski, of Talking Rock, driving a Kia Sedona south on the interstate, struck the rear of a Toyota FJ that had stopped for traffic due to a different accident in the city of Canton, the sheriff’s office reported.
Blankowski was transported to Northside Hospital Cherokee, where he died from his injuries, authorities said. The driver of the FJ was transported to Wellstar Kennestone Hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Blankowski was known as DJ Dano to friends and others in the community, his daughter, Jazeri McHenry, said. McHenry said the local coroner told the family Blankowski had a heart attack while driving.
The crash remains under investigation by the Cherokee Sheriff’s Office Traffic Enforcement Unit.
Cherokee County District Attorney Shannon Wallace has been appointed by Governor Brian Kemp to serve as the county's newest Superior Court judge, the governor's office announced. Wallace will be the fourth judge on the Blue Ridge Judicial Circuit Superior Court, a position created earlier this year by state law. Cherokee is the only county in the Blue Ridge circuit.
Wallace is Cherokee County’s first female district attorney.
Before being elected, she was the chief assistant district attorney for the former District Attorney Garry Moss.
Before coming to the district attorney’s office, Wallace was a prosecutor in the Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit in middle Georgia. She handled all manner of major felony offenses there, according to the governor's office, but quickly developed a passion for handling crimes against women and children.
Wallace sits on the board of Cherokee FOCUS, a Cherokee County collaborative that focuses on creating strong family units. District Attorney Wallace also sits on the board of Cherokee Triad - S.A.L.T. and is an active member of the Canton Rotary and Cherokee Chamber of Commerce. The district attorney graduated cum laude from the University of Georgia in 1999 with a bachelor's in psychology and criminal Justice. She then received her juris doctor from the University of Georgia School of Law, graduating cum laude in 2002.
The Reinhardt women’s basketball team picked up its sixth consecutive win before heading into the winter break.
Led by Maria Sanchez Ponce’s double-double of 24 points and 12 rebounds, the Eagles posted a 75-67 win over Bluefield on Tuesday to improve to 13-3 this season.
It was a big offensive game for Reinhardt, which had three players in double figures, led by Julia Craft’s 22 points and Summer Cramer’s 13. Cramer also had a team-best seven assists.
The Eagles also remained undefeated in the Appalachian Athletic Conference at 12-0, already nearing last year’s conference win total of 15. Twelve conference games still reside on the schedule before the AAC tournament begins Feb. 20.
Sanchez Ponce, a freshman from Spain, is third on Reinhardt’s scoring chart at 10.1 points per game and second in rebounding with 7.1 per game. She has the highest field goal percentage on the team, converting on 51.9% of her shots.
Ashley Woodroffe leads the Eagles in scoring at 14.8 points per game, followed by Craft’s 12.9. Tarrah Gibson is grabbing 7.5 rebounds per game to lead the team, with 3.1 assists also counting as a team-best.
Reinhardt is the only team in the AAC with an undefeated conference record, while its overall record is also the best. Bryan, Milligan, and Point trail the Eagles in the standings.
Cherokee High School had six all-region selections in 5AAAAAAA, along with nine honorable mentions following the conclusion of the 2022 season.
Senior linebacker Kyan Simmons and junior defensive lineman Javon Hobson earned first-team honors. Simmons finished the year with 103 tackles, 11 sacks and 10 tackles for loss, while Hobson tallied 58 tackles, seven sacks and seven tackles for loss.
Simmons had a big impact in Cherokee’s 30-14 win at Kennesaw Mountain toward the end of the season. It was the deciding game on if the Warriors would qualify for the Class AAAAAAA state playoffs, and Simmons totaled 13 tackles, four tackles for loss and two sacks.
The 6-foot-2, 210-pound linebacker received his first Division I offer from Marist on Monday.
Cherokee’s other two first-team members were senior kicker Rodion Averianov and junior punter Reed Chandley.
Averianov connected on four of six field goals this season with a long of 51 yards and did not miss an extra point all year, despite being a late addition to the team.
Chandley averaged 40 yards per punt, which Shaw said consistently gave the Warriors an advantage in flipping field position. Another special teams player, long snapper Spencer Radnoti, also deserved recognition, according to Shaw.
On the all-region second team, the Warriors saw junior receiver Pops Jameson and junior defensive lineman JD Burn earn recognition. Jameson finished the season as Cherokee’s leading receiver with 400 yards and four touchdowns on 32 receptions, while Burn finished with 42 tackles, six tackles for loss and one sack. Sophomore quarterback Tanner Savasir led the Warriors’ nine honorable mentions, along with Jayce Jones, one of Savasir’s favorite targets in the passing game.
The Cherokee County fire department’s first chief has died.
Joe Carmichael died December 10 at his home in Corryton, Tennessee, at the age of 79. Carmichael was born in Birmingham and moved to Cherokee County in 1972, spending a large portion of his adult life in Cherokee before he eventually moved to Tennessee.
The former fire chief began his fire service career at the City of Atlanta Fire Department. In Cherokee County, he started out as a firefighter in the Oak Grove Volunteer Fire Department. Carmichael became Cherokee County’s first fire chief in 1973 when he noticed there was no fire protection. All firefighter positions were volunteer. The fire chief position was on a volunteer basis until 1976, when Carmichael became the official fire chief of unincorporated Cherokee County and started receiving pay for his services. Carmichael also founded the Oak Grove Civic Association. The county’s fire department has grown from fewer than 10 members when it first went paid to almost 500 members today. Cherokee County Fire and Emergency Services plans to have a small memorial service in the spring, according to a Facebook post by the department.
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