PDA View Full Version : ARTICLE: Murder Charge Shocks School (Cobb County, GA) strongernow Murder charge shocks school



By CHARLES YOO, DOUG PAYNE

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 11/17/04





She was the kind of teacher who brought wit, energy  and sometimes, doughnuts  to class.



She talked about the importance of building character and has invited a clergyman and a Marine to speak to her students.



So why is Elizabeth MacDonald, a popular English teacher at Marietta's Lassiter High School, in jail?



Police say MacDonald fatally beat her 87-year-old mother with a hammer.



MacDonald's mother, Laura Townsend, had been in a coma since the Oct. 8 beating. She died Monday, and the charges against MacDonald were upgraded to felony murder.



Students are stunned.



"What in the world?" asked Ben Hopper, a senior who took McDonald's American literature class last year. "She was one of my favorite teachers."



Since the alleged beating, a clearer portrait has emerged of MacDonald, who says she held a Ph.D. and wrote three children's books. Neighbors say she participated in animal rescues and is a gifted artist who decorated her home with her own paintings of landscapes and animals.



At some point, MacDonald had a falling-out with her mother and father, who lived in Connecticut, and the three hadn't been in contact for some time, police say.



But on the night of Oct. 7, Townsend and her 86-year-old husband, Tom, flew to Atlanta to visit their daughter.



Before they arrived, MacDonald, 51, told her students she couldn't wait to see them.



Less than 24 hours later, MacDonald's mother was in a coma.



'A huge mistake'



Police were called to MacDonald's two-story house in a Woodstock subdivision shortly before 8 a.m. on Oct. 8.



That morning, MacDonald ran to the home of one of her neighbors, who is a nurse, and told her that her mother was hurt, according to a police report.



That woman checked on MacDonald's mother while MacDonald called 911.



As the two waited for paramedics to arrive, MacDonald kept crying, "I'm sorry Mom! I'm sorry Mom!" the neighbor told police.



When police arrived, they say MacDonald was "lying on the ground, in a fetal position . . . wailing and crying." She had blood on her hands, arms, legs and socks, police say.



At first, MacDonald told authorities that her mother had tumbled down 11 stairs. But paramedics quickly noticed that the wounds were inconsistent with a fall, police said.



Danny Greeson, a detective sergeant with the Woodstock Police Department, said MacDonald told the paramedics she had hit her mother with a hammer.



Greeson said Townsend was hit multiple times in the head, but authorities are awaiting the results of an autopsy, which will be done in Connecticut.



MacDonald's older sister, Joanne Taber, who lives in Connecticut, refused to discuss the relationship between her parents and MacDonald.



"She's a wonderful person who made a huge mistake," Taber said. "All I can say is that her family loves her very much.



"As for the rest, that's up to the court."



A fall or 'a tussle'?



So what happened in MacDonald's home that morning?



MacDonald's father, who police said suffers from mild dementia, told investigators that he was still in bed at the time.



But he told an officer that MacDonald was trying to help her mother walk down the stairs.



"Mom took offense to her helping," according to a police report. "A tussle started when Mom tried to break away from Ms. McDonald's grasp and that Mom fell down the stairs."



On Wednesday, MacDonald, who previously had been charged with aggravated assault, aggravated battery and elder abuse, appeared in court, where she was formally charged with felony murder.



She has not spoken about the incident, and she said nothing during Wednesday's court appearance. She is being held in the Cherokee County Jail without bond.



In the meantime, students at Lassiter described MacDonald as the kind of teacher who tried to reach pupils through group games and pushed students to actively participate.



She also headed Interact, an extracurricular activity in which students reached out to homeless children and orphans.



"She seemed like she loved students more than anything else in the whole world," said Katie Knothe, 18, a senior who had been in MacDonald's British literature class. strongernow Mother, 87, dies; daughter is held



By DOUG PAYNE

dpayne@ajc.co.m

Published on: 11/16/04





A Woodstock woman who was arrested last month on charges of elder abuse and aggravated assault in connection with a hammer attack on her mother was arrested again Tuesday and charged with murder after the elderly woman died.



Elizabeth MacDonald, 51, an English teacher at Lassiter High School in Cobb County, is being held without bond at the Cherokee County Jail, said Woodstock police Chief David Schofield.





MacDonald was arrested Oct. 8 and charged with attacking her mother, Laura Townsend, 87, of New Canaan, Conn., Schofield said. Police have revealed no motive for the attack, which left Townsend in a coma.



Townsend was taken to Atlanta Medical Center after the attack but was moved to Connecticut, Schofield said.



She died Monday between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. without regaining consciousness, he said.



MacDonald turned herself in at the Woodstock Police Department on Tuesday. mrskendrick2you sad, sad, sad!!! :(



What in the world is going on these days?!



Thanks for sharing Patience!



By the way, we have to get together sometime! MiaBellaAngela Sounds like there is MUCH more to this story. Very sad for all. PTO56489 Things that make ya go hmmmmmmmmmmmmm 1dayatatime I had heard of the initial report but didnt know she died. YES there is apparently alot being left out of this story.



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