Columbus area attorney joins former CPD Sergeant in AG’s Gang Prosecution Unit
A Columbus area attorney has joined the Georgia Attorney General’s Office Gang Prosecution Unit.
Shaneka Terry, previously a senior assistant public defender in the Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit, has joined the unit as an Assistant Attorney General in Columbus, the AG’s office announced.
Terry also serves as senior defense counsel for the Army National Guard Trial Defense Services Program. Terry has a combined experience of nearly 15 years in military and civilian criminal law, according to the release, according to the news release.
A former sergeant in the Columbus Police Department’s Violent Crimes Unit also has joined the Gang Prosecution Unit.
Amanda McKelvey, a criminal investigator with the Gang Prosecution Unit, previously served as a military police officer in the U.S. Army. She has more than 17 years of law enforcement experience, according to the news release.
The hires are part of an expansion of the unit with funding from the Fiscal Year 2025 budget passed by the Georgia General Assembly and signed by Gov. Brian Kemp in May.
“Since creating Georgia’s first statewide Gang Prosecution Unit in July 2022, we have worked hand-in-hand with law enforcement in Muscogee County to successfully prosecute those responsible for repeated acts of violence targeting individuals as young as 16 years old,” said Georgia Attorney General Chris Carrsaid in the news release.
His statement went on to say, “By expanding our team to include a dedicated prosecutor and investigator in Columbus, we’re able to strengthen our efforts to fully dismantle the growing gang networks that are terrorizing our communities and recruiting our children day in and day out.”
During the past year, the Gang Prosecution Unit has secured four murder convictions and six gang convictions in Columbus, the news release says. This includes the prosecution of Rodderick Glanton, Homer Upshaw and Terrence Upshaw, who were each found guilty of murder sentenced to life in prison in the deaths of Jesse Ransom, 17, and Saiveon Pugh, 18.