'Racially-Charged Notes' Led To Douglasville Woman's Arrest: Cops

DOUGLASVILLE, GA — A series of "racially-charged notes" left in mailboxes of the Douglasville area's Brookmont subdivision led to charges against a resident of the community, the Douglasville Police Department said.

Last December, residents on Manning Drive received notes in their mailboxes from someone claiming to be a white member of the Ku Klux Klan, threatening to burn down their homes and kill them, according to DPD detectives. The man claimed to be 6 feet tall with a long, red beard, and said he was not a resident of the neighborhood.

Subsequent notes with similar language were found in Brookmont mailboxes on Feb. 17, Feb. 22, March 1 and March 3. After a six-month absence, the final note was placed Sept. 6, which led police to a suspect.

But the investigation did not lead police to a 6-foot-tall white man with a long, red beard.

After going door-to-door in the neighborhood, checking cameras, passing out flyers, comparing handwriting and gathering information, police linked Terresha Lucas, a 30-year-old Black woman and resident of the Brookmont neighborhood, to the notes. Detectives obtained a search warrant and also "found other evidence" tying Lucas to the incidents, police said.

Police did not release the specifics of how the connection was made between Lucas and the notes.

Lucas was charged with eight counts of making terroristic threats earlier this month. She is expected to turn herself in this week, DPD officials said. A motive for the notes was not immediately clear.

"Our investigators had the drive to stick with this case and see it all to the end," DPD Chief Gary Sparks said. "That's what we're all about and this reflects the professionalism and integrity of the department."