The accused murderer of a Cedar Shoals High School graduate whose body was found in the trunk of her burnt car at an Athens quarry a year ago was arraigned Monday in Greene County Superior Court.
Rodricus Ward pleaded not guilty to all charges in an indictment charging him with malice murder and multiple other felonies in the death of 23-year-old Darla Gibbons.
Gibbons grew up in Athens, graduated from Cedar Shoals High School and later earned a degree at Albany State University. She was living in Atlanta at the time of her death.
Ward and Gibbons reportedly had an abusive relationship. The couple had dated since high school.
Authorities believe Ward fatally shot Gibbons at his home in Greensboro, put her in the trunk of her own car, then drove to Athens, where he set the car on fire.
The burned-out car was found Oct. 22 at a quarry off Winterville Road, not far from where Gibbons’ mother lived on Spring Valley Road.
Two weeks before Gibbons’ murder, Ward completed parole from a prison sentence in which he served time for robbery and family violence convictions in Greene County.
And in the month prior to her death, Gibbons told her brother that she was pregnant with Ward’s child. She also said Ward became “violently irate” after Gibbons miscarried, blaming her for the unborn child’s death.
Because of the turbulent history that defined his relationship with Gibbons, authorities quickly focused their suspicions on Ward following Gibbons’ death.
Two days after Gibbons body was found, Ward was arrested on a parole violation for being a convicted felon in possession of the same handgun with which he was pictured in a cellphone image. When Ward was sent back to Macon State Prison to serve out the remainder of his previous sentences, investigators worked to tie him to Gibbons’ murder through evidence they found when searching his home in Greensboro.
According to a Georgia Bureau of Investigation search warrant, the evidence included a pile of burned debris where charred clothing and a hoop earring were found. In the bedroom, investigators reportedly found a spent .25-caliber bullet casing near the bed and blood stains on an electrical cord running along the wall across from the bed. A section of carpet and padding in that same area was cut out and removed, the same place where a crime scene specialist using a chemical agent found apparent blood stains in a “smeared pattern,” according to the warrant. Possible blood splatters were identified on a wall and authorities said samples from the stains were sent for analysis at the GBI State Crime Lab.
When questioned by Athens-Clarke County police detectives, Ward reportedly explained he cut out the section of carpeting because he spilled paint on it.
Forensics experts concluded from the evidence that Gibbons was killed in Ward’s home, authorities said.
Typically, a murder case is prosecuted in the jurisdiction where the victim’s body was found. But since authorities believe they can make a good case Gibbons was killed in Greensboro, authorities said they made the decision to prosecute Ward in Greene County.
Following Monday’s arraignment, Ward was to be transported back to Macon State Prison while the murder case is pending. His sentence for the robbery and family violence convictions expires in 2020.
The case was investigated by the GBI’s Athens and Milledgeville regional offices, the Athens-Clarke County Police Department and the Greene County Sheriff’s Office.
Anyone who is in an abusive relationship can seek advice and services by calling Project Safe’s 24-hour hotline at (706) 543-3331, or by visiting http://www.project-safe.org/.
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