Public Safety

The mother of the four girls killed in a structure fire Aug. 30 has been charged with involuntary manslaughter and felony child abuse. Reagan Noelle Powers, 28, faces four charges each of involuntary manslaughter and felony negligent child abuse resulting in serious bodily injury. She was released on $400,000 secured bond Wednesday after being processed into the jail around 2 p.m. Powers was not in the home when...

Following is a weekly feature of Columbuscountynews.com. All records and information are obtained through arrest reports and warrants. While the focus is primarily to draw attention to driving while impaired (DWI) cases, other charges are included where available. All suspects are presumed innocent in a court of law. An arrest is not a conviction of driving while impaired or any other crime, but the result of reasonable suspicion...

Testimony is continuing in the first degree murder trial of Prentiss McDuffie in Columbus County Superior Court. McDuffie and Demarius Washington were arrested for the deaths of Alexis Ciprian Trujillo, 5; his mother Nancy Trujillo Espinoza; and Leonel Ciprian Noyola were killed in the Sept. 7, 2019 home invasion, and Rafaela Noyola Jaramillo was seriously injured. Alexis was a kindergarten student at Whiteville Primary. The shooting spree occurred...