AUGUSTA (WJBF) – Five members of the street gang Loyalty Over Everything or LOE facing more than two dozen charges for three shootings in January in the Dogwood Terrace neighborhood. Those shootings injured two children under the age of 18 and killed 8-year-old Arbrie Anthony.

The indictments charge Henri Beach, Antoine Redfield, Antonious Thomas, Destiny Rich, and Kendariss Brown. Brown and Rich have not yet been arrested. They’re all being charged with malice murder, cruelty to animals, cruelty to children, and other gang-related crimes. 25 charges in all, stemming from those shootings in early January. Augusta Commissioner Dennis Williams represents the area where those shootings took place.

“I’m happy to see that they did come up with some indictments. That goes to show the members of our community that our law enforcement and judicial system is working,” said District 2 Commissioner Dennis Williams.

The indictment says the shootings that injured two children and the one that killed 8-year-old Arbrie Anthony were used to increase and maintain the status of the L-O-E gang.
That gang has been involved in a number of violent crimes that stretch back more than a decade.
Back in 2017– 17 alleged gang members were indicted on racketeering and corruption charges.

“It’s been years and organizations like gangs have to take some time in organizing and forming so you can imagine it has been a number of years,” said Commissioner Williams.

The Richmond County Sheriff’s office says the LOE gang first originated on Shirley Avenue back in the 1980s. They were originally known as the Shirley Avenue Boys but later expanded their reach to become one of the largest gangs in Richmond County.

Commissioner Williams says, “My perception was that it wasn’t that big, but now that we’ve had several drive-bys that generated in deaths and we know that they’re out there now and they’re out there strong.”

But that could soon change. In a statement — District Attorney Jared Williams says this is just the beginning of his office’s effort to crack down on gangs in Augusta.

“We want to make sure that our community is a safe place to be so therefore the more our law enforcement agencies fight crime and gangs the less crime we should have,” he said.

But Commissioner Williams says the community is also going to have to step up and work with law enforcement to put an end to gang violence. He says if people witness any sort of gang activity they need to report it, before someone else loses a child.