Guilty or Innocent: The Case of the Missing and Murdered Children in AtlantaSynopsisThe Case of the Missing and Murdered Children in Atlanta is a series of murder cases that took place in Atlanta, Georgia between the periods of 1979 -1981. During which twenty-nine African American children were murdered along with young adults. The victims, mostly black Americans, were found asphyxiated; some were allegedly victims of sexual abuse. This terrifying series of murders has left the city of Atlanta stunned and on alert. Newspaper and television reports about the case shook the nation and reminded parents to closely monitor their children. Green ribbons “symbolizing life” and buttons with green letters reading “SAVE THE CHILDREN” appeared everywhere. Celebrities like Frank Sinatra, Muhammad Ali, James Baldwin and Burt Reynolds came from all over the country to show their support and donate money. President Ronald Reagan provided a $1.5 million grant to help fund the investigation. During the three years that the victims began disappearing and were later found murdered, police questioned the suspects without success. As leads in the case dwindled and no arrests were in sight, Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson imposed a 7 p.m. curfew on children in the city of Atlanta. The murderer at the time was nicknamed “the child killer”. Most people believed the killings were carried out by racist hate groups such as the KKK. It was not until June 21, 1981 that a 23-year-old black man was charged with the first-degree murder of two adults, 27-year-old Nathaniel Cater and 22-year-old Jimmy Ray Payne. Wayne B Williams was tried and sentenced to life imprisonment because he was also linked to the murder of the other victims1. The evidence against him was strong and it was used in the middle of the newspaper......a major breakthrough in an investigation that had seen 29 African American children and adults murdered in a series of murders occurred with the arrest of Wayne B. Williams, 23, convicted of the crimes and sentenced to life imprisonment. It was one of the darkest moments in Atlanta's history, a period of darkness that will forever be etched in the minds of the victims and the people of Georgia.BibliographyDouglas, J. and M. Olshaker. (1995). Mind Hunter: Part of the FBI's elite serial crimes unit. New York: Scribner. Nickell, J. and J.F. Fischer. (1999). Crime science: forensic detection methods. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky. Nickell, J., ed. 1994. Psychic Detectives: ESP and Sensational Cases. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books. O’Brien, S. (2010). Child murders in Atlanta. The CNN special first aired in June 10.