Commerce woman arrested, Gainesville man sentenced

A Commerce woman faces criminal charges in the death of her mother. 74 year-old Linda Cowart died in a hospital in Athens; Commerce Police say her death was the result of neglect on the part of her daughter, who was serving as her mother’s caretaker. Charges against 50 year-old Tina Booth include murder and elder neglect. The GBI is in on the ongoing investigation.

There is a guilty plea from the man charged in the death of a woman whose body was found in a hotel in Gainesville: 44 year-old Andre Hollingsworth pleaded guilty to an involuntary manslaughter charge and also to charges of cocaine possession. The body of 33 year-old Randi Higgins was found in a Hall County hotel back in March. An autopsy later determined she died of blunt force trauma. Hollingsworth will serve a 25-year prison sentence. 

A Gainesville man is facing child molestation charges: 53 year-old Russell Lowery was booked into the Hall County jail, accused of molesting a child for a two-year period beginning in 2014. 

Police in Oakwood arrest a Gainesville man on a kidnapping charge: Luis Contreras is 26 years old. The arrest comes after a traffic stop in Oakwood. Police say he fled the scene of the stop on foot and was arrested a short time later. They say a teenaged boy who was with him at the time was being held against his will. Contreras is also facing theft charges. 

A Buford woman will be sentenced next month after her conviction on a murder charge: 34 year-old Olivia Smith had claimed self-defense in the shooting death of her husband. 34 year-old Cory Smith was shot and killed at the couple’s home in Buford in April of 2015, a shooting that happened while the Smith’s were in the midst of divorce proceedings. She was convicted in a trial that was held in Gwinnett County Superior Court.