April 18, 2013 – District Attorney Vic Reynolds announces that his office will pay homage to those intimately affected by crime during the annual Crime Victims’ Rights Week.

“Those who have been hurt by the criminal actions of others are harmed in many ways, yet they are often some of the strongest people I’ve met. Our vigil aims to recognize their suffering and remember those who didn’t survive,” District Attorney Vic Reynolds said. “We are also pleased to open our office for people in the community we serve. This office belongs to them, after all.”

Kimberly B. McCoy, director of the Victim Witness Unit in the Cobb District Attorney’s Office, said,   “Victims of crime suffer emotional, financial, and physical trauma as a result of the crimes inflicted upon them. The least we can do as a society is stand up for victims’ rights, ensuring that victims are kept informed of, allowed to participate in, and advised of options surrounding the criminal justice process.”

MARIETTA, Ga. -- An Atlanta man was charged with first degree arson after a fire at a Cobb County motel Tuesday morning.

The blaze broke out at around 2:45 a.m. at the Sun Inn on Cobb Parkway North in Marietta.

Marietta Police Officer Michael Baldwin said crews put out the fire quickly. The motel suffered about $50,000 worth of damage. Several residents were displaced, but motel management found other rooms for them.

Investigators arrested 37-year-old Carlous Deushawn Banks at the scene. He is being held in the Cobb County Jail.

Baldwin said fire officials are now looking into the possibility that Banks is responsible for other fires in metro Atlanta.

MARIETTA, Ga. -- A Cobb County man has been convicted of murder and aggravated assault in the death of a man who was beaten and thrown from an apartment balcony.

Cobb County District Attorney's officials Monday said 31-year-old Jesus Hernandez Perez was convicted in Superior Court in the death of 27-year-old Boydrick Powell of Marietta.

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Authorities say Perez and co-defendant Jose Marcelino Badillo beat Powell to death with a bat and threw him off a balcony in September 2010.