Antonio Barnes

THOMASVILLE — People who have lived in the Mulberry Street area for 50 years are ready to leave because of activity in the neighborhood.

Lawmen said a house at 213 Mulberry is where suspects in the December Whataburger shootings sought harbor immediately after the incident.

An occupant of the rental house, Laquinta Lashawn Williams, also known as Tee Wee, 40, is charged with maintaining a disorderly house.

Capt. Maurice Holmes, Thomasville Police Department Criminal Investigations Division commander, said Antonio Barnes, Williams’ 29-year-old boyfriend, is wanted on the same charge.

“They both are adults at that residence and responsible for what goes on at that house,” Holmes said.

A number or children live at the house, which is owned by a Jacksonville, Florida, resident.

Adults who live at the residence do not have jobs and are involved in drug activity, Holmes explained. “It’s in the air,” he added about drug use at the house. “You can smell it. You know it’s being sold.”

Holmes and Louis Schofill, Thomas County/Thomasville Narcotics/Vice Division commander, said law enforcement receives numerous complaints about the address.

Said Holmes, “Basically, this residence has become a nuisance for the community and a quality of life issue for that community.”

From shots fired, to drug activity, to loud music, 213 Mulberry is a place to which lawmen respond frequently.

The Thomas County Sheriff’s Office has served civil paper work 23 times at the house. Five warrants for wanted persons and one bench warrant have been served there. 

Thomasville police have responded to six disturbances, two assaults, one wanted person and one juvenile complaint at 213 Mulberry.

Holmes said Williams moved to the house in April. Since then, he said, “It’s been ongoing.”

“We know first-hand she (Williams) had knowledge of the shooting,” Holmes said.

He said people who live at the house block the street from a free traffic flow by congregating around vehicles in the street. A Thomasville police officer, who drove his personal vehicle by the house, said people in the street did not move.

Construction equipment stolen from a nearby residence was recovered at the Mulberry house and returned to the owner, Schofill said. Narcotics agents responded to the house at Christmas in search of drugs and found the stolen equipment.

Schofill said suspected shooters in the Whataburger shootings “split up” at 213 Mulberry, adding that the suspects are Williams’ relatives.

Monitoring of suspected drug activity at the house continues.

Holmes said people come and go constantly from the residence and walk in the middle of the street.

Williams was warned she would be arrested if the undesirable activity did not stop. “It didn’t stop,” Holmes said.

Charges against Williams will continue to mount until the 213 Mulberry St. problem is rectified, the CID commander said.

Senior reporter Patti Dozier can be reached at (229) 226-2400, ext. 1820