What You Missed Over Spring Break

Spring break is over for many school districts, but news in Georgia didn’t take a break. A 12-year-old was shot dead inside an Atlanta home — and a 14-year-old is charged with his murder. A high school senior with a nursing school acceptance letter was picked up by federal immigration agents weeks before graduation. Georgia’s food pantries are running short on food while demand keeps climbing. Republicans won a congressional seat in the state’s reddest district, but the margin has both parties doing math. And the money pouring into Georgia’s May primary is already staggering. It was a full week. Here’s what happened.

A 12-Year-Old Is Dead and a 14-Year-Old Is Charged With His Murder

Atlanta police were called to a home on Lathrop Street SE on Saturday after a report of a shooting. Inside, they found a 12-year-old boy with a gunshot wound. He was rushed to the hospital in critical condition and later pronounced dead. By Sunday morning, a 14-year-old had been charged with his murder and taken to Metro Youth Detention Center. Police say the boys were playing with a gun inside a bedroom. The victim’s mother was home and called 911. A gun was recovered at the scene. Georgia has no law that meaningfully criminalizes leaving a firearm where a child can get to it.

A Cedartown Senior Was Detained by ICE Weeks Before Graduation

Jaqueline Ramirez-Juarez is a senior at Cedartown High School in Polk County. She’s a member of the National Honor Society, Key Club, and SkillsUSA. She had been accepted to Georgia Highlands College to study nursing. Then, weeks before graduation, federal immigration agents took her into custody. A fundraising page created on her behalf says she holds legal immigration status. Jail records show she was arrested by Polk County Police on March 26 for a minor traffic violation, held four days on a $400 bond, released — and then picked up by ICE. A GoFundMe has raised more than $14,000 from more than 300 donors to help cover her bond and legal fees. ICE has not confirmed or denied her legal status. Here’s what we know.

Georgia’s Reddest District Just Gave Democrats Something to Talk About

Republicans won the special election runoff in Georgia’s 14th Congressional District last Tuesday — but the margin is what people are still chewing on. Clay Fuller, a former district attorney and Trump-endorsed candidate, beat Democrat Shawn Harris, a retired Army Brigadier General, 55.58% to 44.42%. This is a district that is 85% white, carries a median household income of $42,700, and sent Marjorie Taylor Greene to Washington for five years without a serious challenge. Harris’s 44% finish is being called the largest Democratic swing in a recent Georgia special House election. Both candidates have already qualified for the May 19 primary, and a November rematch looks likely.

Big Money Is Already Pouring Into Georgia’s May Primary

The May 19 primary is five weeks out and the money is already moving fast. The Senate Leadership Fund, a Republican Super PAC, says it will spend $44 million in Georgia — part of a $342 million national ad buy — going after Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff. On the other side, Ossoff has raised nearly $64 million since 2021, more than any other Senate candidate in the country. Meanwhile, Georgia Insurance Commissioner John King endorsed businessman Rick Jackson for governor, and Fulton County Republicans are taking their fight over local election board appointments all the way to the state Supreme Court. Get the full breakdown here.

Georgia Voters Will Have Three Big Questions on the November Ballot

Before adjourning, Georgia lawmakers agreed to put two constitutional questions before voters in November. One would create a dedicated fund for a statewide Next Generation 911 system — built to handle text messages and connect local 911 centers. The other would make county probate judge elections nonpartisan, the same way superior and state court judge races already work. A third question, approved in 2025, asks voters whether to double the maximum acreage of agricultural and timber land that qualifies for a conservation tax break. Here’s what each one means.

Georgia’s Food Pantries Are Running Out of Food

This one has been building for a while, but it got worse last week. Georgia’s major food banks say demand is outpacing supply — and the local church and community pantries are feeling it hardest. Frank Sheppard, president of Feeding the Valley food bank in West Georgia, said most pantries in his service area have had to cut back on how much food they hand out and how often. “This food shortage is no surprise to anyone,” Sheppard said. “But this crisis has really surged in the first quarter of the calendar year, making it just that much more difficult.” In Atlanta, the CEO of the Atlanta Community Food Bank is warning that expected cuts to federal food assistance eligibility could make things significantly worse. Read the full story here.

A Former Federal Prison Guard Was Convicted of Running a Drug Smuggling Operation

A federal jury convicted a former guard at the U.S. Penitentiary Atlanta on April 2 after a six-day trial. Patrick Shackelford, 51, of Senoia, was found guilty of taking bribes and helping inmates move large amounts of drugs and other contraband into the prison through a hidden hole cut beneath a sink in the visitation area restroom. Between June 2018 and February 2019, packages were pushed through that hole nearly every week. When prison staff found the stash in February 2019, it included more than a pound of pure methamphetamine, more than a kilogram of marijuana, synthetic marijuana, tobacco, and several cell phones — described as one of the largest contraband finds in the prison’s history. Shackelford was taken into custody immediately after the verdict.

Georgia Ranked 45th in the Country for Children’s Health Care

A new report from personal finance company WalletHub graded all 50 states on 33 measures of children’s health — and Georgia landed near the bottom. The state ranked 43rd for infant death rates, 42nd for the share of uninsured children, and 48th for vaccination rates among toddlers ages 19 to 35 months. Massachusetts ranked first overall, with the lowest rate of uninsured children in the country at just 1.6%. Georgia families who get health coverage through an employer pay an average of $6,850 per year out of pocket toward that coverage, according to WalletHub.

Your Groceries Are Shrinking and Getting More Expensive at the Same Time

You’re not imagining it. A new analysis by InvestorsObserver found that a family of four buying the same grocery brands at the same rate as 2020 is now spending $741 more per year — and $41 of that increase came not from higher prices, but from packages that quietly got smaller. M&M’s Peanut Family Size bags jumped 90% in price since 2020 and shrank from 19.2 oz to 18.08 oz. Frosted Flakes raised its price in 2022, then shrank the box the following year — and kept the higher price. The full breakdown is worth a look before your next grocery run.

Georgia Drunk Driving Deaths Dropped 32% in 2024

Some genuinely good news: Georgia recorded 176 alcohol-impaired driving deaths in 2024, down from 259 the year before. That’s 83 fewer people killed in drunk driving crashes in a single year, and it ranks Georgia seventh among all states showing improvement, according to an analysis of federal traffic data. The numbers are encouraging — but researchers caution that nearly two in five states moved in the wrong direction in 2024.