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Murder trial still on hold

Shooter to face death penalty in Coweta

By JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@TheCitizen.com

It will take a little longer before Coweta County prosecutors will get to try three suspects for the murder of a Starr's Mill High School student in what police called a drug-related shooting at a Newnan apartment complex more than a year ago.

That's because the alleged shooter, Roderick Calvin Thomas, 25, will face the death penalty for shooting Heather Rhodes, 17, of Peachtree City, who died on the scene according to police. Seeking the death penalty for Thomas stretches out the pre-trial process, prosecutors said.

Police said Thomas and another man broke into an apartment at the Lakeside apartment complex March 30, 2004 just before the shooting. Rhodes was a senior at Starr’s Mill and was due to graduate two months after her death.

Thomas, whose address was listed as 5632 Cypress Dr., Forest Park, is charged with murder, as is Marquis Damon Cannon, 28, of 72 Thigpen Rd., Newnan. Cannon is not facing the death penalty, however. A third suspect, Anricus Rayshun Holston, 21, of Apt. 502, 22 Forest Circle, Newnan, is charged with felony murder (party to a crime).

According to warrants filed by sheriff's detectives in the case, Holston hatched the idea to steal marijuana from the apartment. Holston also drove Cannon and Thomas to the apartment in a green Ford Explorer, police said.

Cannon and Thomas burst into the apartment burst into the apartment after knocking on the door, and Thomas brandished a shotgun before shooting Rhodes, who died on the scene from her injuries, police said. Two other men in the apartment were injured but survived the gunfire, police said.

After the incident, school officials recalled Rhodes as having a sweet demeanor and being "very energetic and very polite." She lived with her parents in Peachtree City and was a member of the Vocational Opportunity Clubs of America and Future Business Leaders of America.