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Second victim dies
Alleged attacker denied bond
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Deputies lead Wallace James from the Liberty County Courthouse Annex Friday afternoon after he was arraigned in magistrate court. - photo by Phgoto by Patty Leon
Abraham Moody, one of two victims in Thursday’s hatchet attacks near Riceboro, died this morning, Liberty County Chief Deputy Keith Moran said Friday.
Also Friday his alleged attacker, his cousin Wallace James, was arraigned on two murder charges in Liberty County Magistrate Court and the case was bound over to superior court.
The other victim, Francenia James, who is the suspect’s mother, died Thursday at her home. Moody died at a hospital in Savannah.
Friday, about 3:30 p.m., shackled and dressed in an orange jail jumpsuit, James appeared before Magistrate Angela Rogers in the courthouse annex.
After a short series of questions pertaining to his ability to provide himself with a defense attorney, and a few muffled and, at times, incoherent answers from James, Rogers said the case was too serious for magistrate jurisdiction and that his case would be handled by a grand jury in superior court in February. Bond was denied.
Upon signing the agreement, James said, "People change."
At one point, James seemed as if he wanted to explain something, but said only, "I'm just tryin' to think. I got two brains in my head."
The hearing was a day after James was arrested for using what Moran described as a hatchet-like weapon to attack his 75-year-old mother and his cousin, whose age has not been released.
Moran has said that about noon Thursday a woman called to say someone was attacking her son at her Barrington Ferry home. She allegedly named Wallace James as the attacker.
Upon arriving in the area, officers saw Wallace James and took him into custody. And he allegedly told them he had also hurt his mother.
That led investigators to the home at 2441 Barrington Ferry, where Francenia and Wallace James lived. Mrs. James was found dead inside.
Wallace James is being held in Liberty Regional Jail.
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Snow accumulation could be increasing
winter weather graphic

Southeast Georgia, including Liberty and Long counties, is under a winter storm warning from the National Weather Service.

The forecast for snowfall total has increased modestly overnight and freezing rain amounts are trending up along the coast.

Forecasters have high confidence that bitterly cold temperatures will impact southeast South Carolina and southeast Georgia this week. Near-record low temperatures are possible Wednesday night. Dangerous wind chills are possible, especially Wednesday night, with values as low as 8-15°F.

Precipitation is expected to arrive this afternoon or early evening, and accumulation of snow and freezing rain is expected. Snow could be from 1 to 2.5 inches, with locally higher amounts possible. An accumulation of close to a quarter-inch of ice is projected for mainly coastal counties.

The risk of additional freezing rain along the immediate coast Thursday night is now very low.

There are also could be travel issues into Wednesday night and Thursday as wet roads could refreeze.

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