Judge Cook Receives TARCP “Making A Difference Award”

December 12, 2018
By: Dwayne Page

DeKalb County General Sessions and Juvenile Court Judge Bratten Cook, II has been presented the “Making a Difference” award. The honor is given by the Tennessee Association of Recovery Court Professionals to a judge who has demonstrated statewide leadership for recovery courts. Judge Cook received the award during the 14^th annual TARCP Conference this week in Murfreesboro.

Judge  Cook’s  wife Judy, his daughter Megan, and assistant Tish Summers were all able to come to see Judge Cook receive the “Making a Difference” award.

Twelve years after its beginnings in DeKalb County, the Recovery Court program (formerly known as Drug Court) has grown and is making a difference in the lives of more people, juveniles and adults. Recovery Court for adults, started by Judge Cook in 2006, provides an alternative to incarceration for eligible non-violent offenders, who are deemed substance dependent. Judge Cook began the recovery court program for juveniles in 2002.

December 12, 2018
By: Dwayne Page

A 23 year old Smithville man charged with the rape of a child will make a court appearance next month.

Ruben Alavez Mejia is under a $125,000 bond. He was arrested on Thursday, December 6 at 703 Snow Street by Smithville Police. He is accused of having sex with a 12 year old girl on several occasions from the time she was 11 years old. His court date is January 10.

Mejia also ran afoul of the law on August 27 when he was cited by Smithville Police for driving under the influence, no driver license, failure to exercise due care, and violation of financial responsibility. Police responded to the bridge at the intersection of Broad and South Mountain Street where Mejia had crashed his vehicle head on into the bridge.  Mejia was passed out at the scene. After being awakened, Mejia was unable to stand on his own. His eyes were blood shot and he had a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage on his person. He was transported to the emergency room of the hospital.

December 11, 2018
By: Dwayne Page

A DeKalb County man who allegedly tried to stab his wife to death before leaving her by the side of the road in the Ragland Bottom area last year will stand trial next spring.

30 year old Andrew Lafate Billings is under indictment for the attempted first degree murder of 20 year old Adriana Billings. He made a brief appearance in DeKalb County Criminal Court Tuesday before Judge David Patterson.

The jury trial has been set for April 2 & 3.

The Grand Jury indicted Billings for the crime in November, 2017. The stabbing occurred on April 4, 2017

The warrant taken against Billings at the time of the stabbing stated that “on the 4th of April, 2017, Andrew Lafate Billings did intentionally and knowingly stab his wife, Adriana Nichole Billings numerous times about the upper body. Billings did commit this act with premeditation with the intent to kill Adriana Billings. Adriana was taken by helicopter with life threatening injuries. This offense did occur in DeKalb County”.

Sheriff Patrick Ray said at the time that the victim was found Tuesday morning, April 4, 2017 on Allen Ferry Road off Backbone Ridge Road in DeKalb County.

“At 9:06 a.m. a call came in to dispatch from someone who found a woman on the side of the road bleeding from the throat and said she appeared to have been stabbed.”

“Officers arrived ten minutes later and found the woman lying in a ditch with knife wounds to the neck, face, and hands. The victim was seen by EMS and then airlifted by helicopter. She suffered life threatening injuries,” said Sheriff Ray.

“While doing inventory at the scene, detectives developed Andrew Billings as a suspect and were able to obtain a vehicle description. A BOLO (Be on the lookout) was sent to surrounding counties.”

“The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and District Attorney General’s Office were summoned to the scene by the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office.”

“White County authorities later received a domestic call in their county and learned that Andrew Billings had gotten into an argument with a family member. A White County detective spotted the vehicle Billings was driving and did a traffic stop at 11:19 a.m.”

“A search warrant was later obtained and executed on the vehicle Billings was driving and officers found blood and a bloody knife with hair on it inside the automobile. Billings was found to have cuts to his hands,” Sheriff Ray continued.

Billings was taken into custody. He was booked in DeKalb County on the attempted first degree murder charge but at that time was being held in White County on a failure to appear in court charge there. DeKalb County had a hold on him after he faced his White County offense.

Andrew and Adriana Billings first made news in November, 2016 when they fled to Michigan with their 8 month old child during a wreck investigation in which a meth lab was found in their vehicle prompting a TBI Endangered Child Alert. For that incident, Andrew Billings was also indicted in November 2017 for aggravated child abuse and initiation of a process intended to result in the manufacture of methamphetamine. Although charged with Andrew at the time in the meth and child abuse case, Adriana was not indicted by the Grand Jury in November, 2017.

That case remains pending in court.

The indictment against Andrew in that incident alleges that “on or about the 10th day of November, 2016 Billings did unlawfully and knowingly initiate a process intended to result in the manufacture of any amount of methamphetamine and that he did unlawfully and knowingly expose Xavier Billings, a child under the age of 8 to the initiation of a process intended to result in the manufacture of methamphetamine”.

Sheriff Ray said that “On Thursday November, 10th, 2016 the Tennessee Highway Patrol worked a two vehicle accident on Highway 70 east (Sparta Highway). After 3 occupants in one of the vehicles, including the child, had been examined by EMS, the adults fled the scene with the child. During the inventory of the vehicle, the Trooper found what he believed to be a methamphetamine lab. The Trooper took criminal warrants in the case on both of the adults for manufacturing meth and aggravated child abuse”.

After the accident, the Trooper obtained information that the child might have had a medical condition and notified the Department of Children Services.

Sheriff Ray said that at 11:19 p.m. Wednesday night, November 16, 2016 the Department of Children Services came to his office and filed a missing/endangered child report. The Sheriff said his department immediately entered the child into the National Crime Information System which prompted the TBI Endangered Child Alert System.

The Billings’ were found with the child at a residence in Flint, Michigan on Friday, November 18, 2016. They were arrested by the City of Flint Police Department and Xavier was placed in protective custody by the Michigan Department of Children Services.

The warrants against the Billings’ taken at the time alleged that on November 10, 2016 Trooper Sean Tramel of the Tennessee Highway Patrol was working an accident on Sparta Highway and found that Andrew and Adriana Billings knowingly initiated the process of manufacturing methamphetamine inside of their white Nissan Sentra which was involved in the accident while their 8 month old son was present in the vehicle.

While doing a post crash inventory of the car, Trooper Tramel discovered a meth lab in a black nylon bag and in a 40 millimeter ammo can in the back seat. Items discovered were a Visine bottle containing muriatic acid, spa test strips, an open container of Drano, four bottles including three with residue and one with sediment, a quart Mason jar with a clear liquid believed to be Coleman fuel and methamphetamine mix which field tested positive for meth.

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