Three days of testimony and 9 hours deliberation resulted in a hung jury in the trial of Antonio Greenlee, charged with the murder of Ebony Clarke.

Antonio Greenlee had been arrested in August of 2008 and charged with malice murder, felony murder and aggravated assault.  Late Thursday afternoon, the jury acquitted Greenlee of malice murder but were split 9-3 for conviction on the charges of felony murder and aggravated assault.

At the end of a very long 4 days, District Attorney Joe Mulholland spoke with us about the trial.

DA Mulholland stated that after speaking with Ms Williford, who stated she could not go through another trial, and "based on how much evidence they had, the way the evidence was scattered and who the witnesses were" the 2 remaining charges were nolle prossed.

He stated they knew it was going to be a tough case going in because of the limited evidence.

We asked if he may have been successful in this case if more citizens had come forward to testify.  "There's no question," Mr Mulholland stated "when people get involved, take a stand through neighborhood watch programs, through making 911 calls and coming forward as witnesses, they are aiding and assisting us in our fight against gangs and violence in our community."

A couple of challenges we are familiar with in this case was the murder weapon was never found and the witnesses in the case were identified as gang members testifying against opposing thugs.  This does not do much for the credibility of the prosecution's witnesses.

It appears to us that this a case where everybody knows what happened, but with no other witnesses to events coming forward, it was tough to prove.

The amount of community involvement has been an issue in Bainbridge and Decatur County for years.  Citizens from other communities recently moving to Bainbridge and Decatur County have voiced this both publicly and privately.

I seem to remember a presentation by Charles Tyson as he was leaving the Bainbridge City Manager's position when he challenged community citizens and leaders to become more involved.

Two Citizens Voice Concern
At Tuesday's "Take Back Our Community" march, which marked the 1 year anniversary of the death of Ebony Clarke, community involvement was stressed.  At the event we spoke with Suzanne Geiger, who has recently moved here from Phoenix Arizona, and her mother Sara Crumb.

Ms Geiger stated she was shocked to see a small town like Bainbridge beginning to have the same kind of problems that a big city like Phoenix has.  She stated she was really surprised there is not more community involvement and the commitment to hold on to being a safe place to raise your kids.

"It is somebody else's problem until they have to deal with it personally" Ms Geiger stated.  "It's a community responsibility to not turn their back and look away when they can make a difference."  Ms Crumb added "Just coming out and showing up says a lot."

They were two of only a small number of supporters on Tuesday afternoon that were not friends and family of Barbara Williford or Ebony Clarke.