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Insight
OPINION
CAN LAWMAKERS
SUSTAIN THEIR
OUTRAGE OVER
EPIPEN PRICES? 13A

BY ALVA JAMES-JOHNSON I met George Mighty Mouse Mr. McCloud was a man of he was moving to a new apart- his door, according to the death
McCloud at the Burger King on routine. He went to Burger King ment. He stopped calling after report. When she got no re-

Saying Veterans Parkway.

Some of you might recall the
column I wrote about him two
practically every morning for
the $2.25 senior deal before
going to Circle K to play the
that, and as the weeks went by I
became a little concerned. I
tried calling his number and got
sponse, she called 911 for a
wellness check, and EMS and
Columbus police officers found
goodbye to years ago recounting the experi-
ence.
lottery and check the horo-
scopes in the Ledger-Enquirer.
a recording saying the number
was no longer in service. I began
Mr. McClouds body on the
floor. Officials said he died of

Mighty I was carrying my laptop in

the fast-food restaurant when he
struck up a conversation.
Mouse Mr. McCloud, you see, had no
idea how to use a computer, and
he wanted my help.
Mr. McCloud was a Korean
War Veteran who had worked
30 years as an airline mechanic.
He earned the nickname
Mighty Mouse playing high
school football in Miami as a
5-foot-6 quarterback, weighing
130 pounds. I had no fear, he
said. Just didnt realize it was a
big mans game.
When I met him, he was
house-sitting for his son, who
was stationed in Alaska with the
military.
I was so fascinated with his
story that I wrote the column,
which drew positive feedback
from many readers. Some had
run into him around town and
loved his endearing personality.
From there, Mr. McCloud and
I became friends. He always
called me darling and let me
know he was my biggest fan.
Sometimes, we would talk in the
evenings while I walked my dog,
Country, and he would pontif-
icate about life. He was a man
of wisdom who loved his family
and friends.
Well, the last time I spoke to
Mr. McCloud was at the end of
June. He said his sons family
was returning to Columbus and
to suspect something bad had
happened.
So last week I Googled his
name and an obit popped up for
a George McCloud who died in
Columbus on June 28. The de-
ceased was 83 years old, and a
homegoing celebration was to
be held July 5 with military hon-
ors at Progressive Funeral
Home. I found out later that the
deceased was indeed the retired
airplane mechanic, George
Mighty Mouse McCloud.
Upon contacting the Musco-
gee County Coroners Office, I
learned of the circumstances of
Mr. McClouds death. His land-
lord, Lesley Trawick, returned
from vacation and knocked on
natural causes.
On Thursday, Trawick said
her family owns the Wade
Cleaners near the Burger King
where Mr. McCloud and I first
met. He visited the cleaners
regularly, and they became
friends. When he needed an
apartment, she rented him the
space. And, like me, she felt
blessed to know him.
So, today, I mourn the loss of
a great American, and I regret
that it took so long for me to
learn of his passing.
I didnt make it to the funeral,
but hes someone I wont forget.
Alva James-Johnson:
706-571-8521, @amjreporter

slaughter or justifiable.
These are the two hom-
icides on the coroners list
but not on the police list of
murders:
A Marquis Brown, 23, of
Phenix City. Investigators
said he died of a blunt-
force trauma head injury
after a Jan. 31 brawl out-
side Outlaws Saloon, 6499
Veterans Parkway. In this
case, detectives charged a
suspect with involuntary
manslaughter, meaning
the homicide was unin-
tentional.
A Jamyah Allen, 15, of
Columbus. Investigators
said the evidence in this
June 9 shooting at 6023
Crystal Drive showed it
was a justifiable homicide.
Allen came toward a resi-
dent with a gun, and
though the gun turned out
to be an Airsoft BB
pistol with its orange tip
removed, it looked like a
real firearm, police said.
Discrepancies between
the coroners count and
the police departments
are not uncommon. Police
last year counted 17 mur-
ders; the coroner listed 22
homicides. In 2014, the
Ledger-Enquirer file police had 22; the coroner
Police have recorded 13 murders in Columbus so far this year. The Muscogee County coroner shows 15 homicides. The difference is one of legal had 23.
terminology. These are the 13 victims
remaining, so far this year:
A Gloria Short, 54; Caleb

CRIME Short, 17; and Gianna

Lindsey, 11. This grand-

Why do police, coroner give

mother, son and grand-
daughter were found slain
Jan. 4 inside the Shorts
3057 Bentley Drive home.
Caleb Short was beaten to

different homicide counts? death; the other two were

Hills Baptist Church, 727
BY TIM CHITWOOD 54th St., where among
tchitwood@ledger-enquirer.com those mourning the amia-
ble autistic man will be
olumbus might the police officers and
tears upon hearing of his
passing.
As police mourn his
death, they investigate his
homicide, the result of a
beaten and stabbed.
A Marcus Barron, 33, of
Columbus. He was fatally
shot Feb. 13 during a dis-
which now totals 13. manslaughter or a justi- pute with a neighbor at
Thats the tally on the fiable shooting. A hom- 3909 Baker Plaza Drive
list the police keep, a list icide is a homicide to the Apartments.
of murders, a legal term coroner, whether it trig- A Anthony Meredith, 24,
that differs from the gers a criminal case or not. of Columbus. He was

C have made it
through August
without another
homicide.
Then Deonn Carter died
Saturday, and a peaceful
spell was broken.
Friends and family will
honor his memory at 1
p.m. today at Cascade
firefighters he befriended.
He was a very, very
special human being. He
gave new meaning to the
term gentleman, said
one officer. If you didnt Road.
know Deonn, then you
cannot know the magni-
tude of his loss. I know a
lot of our members shed
shooting during an at-
tempted robbery Aug. 9
outside the Parkside at
Britt David apartment
complex, 5443 Armour
As they probe his shoot-
ing, they add another
name to their list of this
years homicide victims, and one they categorize as
homicides the Musco-
gee County coroner
counts. The coroners list
totals 15.
Why the difference?
Coroner Buddy Bryan only five categories: hom-
does not differentiate
between a homicide the
police consider a murder
has no category for man-
The coroner keeps
death certificates and a
computer database, and
those records require a
manner of death with
icide, suicide, accidental,
undetermined or natural
(such as illness). The form
gunned down March 26
near the southwest en-
trance of Peachtree Mall,
3131 Manchester Express-
way.
A Calvin Denson, 44, of
Seale, Ala. He was shot
twice in the chest April 30
SEE HOMICIDES, 12A

REPORTERS NOTEBOOK on-set film production your city hall building? movie. That suspense
certificates to create a Thats going to be a tourist thriller was set in a Los

The Government Center in a local workforce for hand-

movie thriller? It could happen
BY TONY ADAMS
tadams@ledger-enquirer.com
Beauty, no doubt, lies in
the eye of the beholder.
That certainly looks to
be the case as more and
more filmmakers venture
to Columbus in search of
land and buildings they
can use in their production
of movies, commercials
and music videos.
Columbus, already des-
ignated a Camera Ready
Community by the Geor-
gia Film, Music & Digital
Entertainment Office, is
now seeking to take its
Hollywood potential to the
next level with the help of
the Georgia Film Acade-
my.
The Columbus Conven-
tion and Visitors Bureau is
the contact for film crews
scouting locations here,
while Columbus State pleted in 1974.
University is now offering
ling future filming and
logistics that come the
citys way.
Which leads us to a
conversation Richard
Baxter, dean of CSUs
College of Arts, had re-
cently with a logistics
person scouring the city
for suitable locations to
set up a movie camera.
One of them, it seems,
spotted the downtown
13-story Columbus Con-
solidated Government
Center, which was com-
He said, You know Willis-esque Die Hard
attraction some day when
somebody comes in here
and uses that in a film,
Baxter recalled. We all
laughed and said we hate
that building in the middle
of the Historic District. He
said, No, its iconic. This
is the type of thing a
movie producer would
come in here and say: I
want to film in this build-
ing.
So, who knows? Perhaps
someday the citys nearly
50-year-old high-rise will
be featured in a down-
sized reboot of a Bruce
Angeles skyscraper with
an off-duty police officer
outwitting an entire gang
of ruthless terrorists.
Dont laugh. Peter Bow-
den, the CVBs president
and chief executive offi-
cer, says the interest is
already there, with his
office escorting film scout-
ing crews every couple of
weeks throughout the city,
as well as in the country-
side around it. A Chevy
commercial was filmed
here in July, he said, with
the Chattahoochee River
SEE NOTEBOOK, 12A