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Friday, Jan. 23, 2009

Former Juliette resident found dead in north Georgia home

Friends of a 39-year-old optician from Juliette found beaten to death in her Canton home Monday say she was a devoted mother who achieved her dream of succeeding in business.

The death of Kimberly Leigh Davis Burton, a 1987 graduate of Mary Persons High School in Forsyth, is being investigated by the Canton Police Department and the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office.

Jerry Hicks, Burton’s former father-in-law, discovered her body after looking through a front window at her home in Canton’s Rivergreen subdivision around noon. Employees at her Eyes on You Eye Care business called him when she didn’t show up for work that morning.

An autopsy performed by the GBI on Wednesday listed her cause of death as “blunt force trauma to the head, Canton police spokeswoman Cpl. Stacy Bailey said.

Authorities have not named any suspects, she said.

Shane Godfrey, a former boyfriend and a longtime friend, met Burton when they were ninth-graders at Mary Persons. He said during their last conversation she spoke about wanting to leave her husband, Rodney Burton.

“Last Tuesday, she told me that she was tired of the relationship and it was coming to an end,” said Godfrey, a former Monroe County sheriff’s deputy who lives in Jasper. “He drank a lot. He lied to her a lot.”

Authorities said they have not been able to locate Rodney Burton and are seeking him for questioning in connection with his wife’s killing.

Kimberly Burton’s pearl-colored 2007 Nissan Maxima has remained missing from the home since Monday, according to a police report. His vehicle was found in the garage at their home.

“It’s important that they talk to him,” Godfrey said.

‘MOST DEPENDABLE’

Tammy Selman says Burton’s fascination with her hairdo is how their friendship began as 12-year-olds.

Burton’s family had moved from South Carolina to Monroe County, where she started the seventh grade as a transfer student at Monroe County Middle School.

“It was the middle of the school year. She sat in the front desk immediately to my right in Ms. Turner’s social studies class,” Selman recalled Thursday. “That particular day, we were having a test. The class was quiet and as I continued to work on my test, I noticed this new red-headed girl with the blue jean jacket and blue eye shadow continuing to stare at me and smile.”

“I awkwardly glanced back several times. I finally asked her what she wanted and she simply said, ‘How do you get your hair to stay in place like that?’”

Selman said she plans to tell the story of how she introduced Burton to hairspray when she delivers the eulogy at her funeral service Saturday.

“That day was the beginning of a strong and lasting friendship for many of us,” she said. “A group of us called ourselves the ‘Get Along Gang’ because we all just simply got along with one another.”

During high school, Burton came into her own, friends say.

She balanced a busy home life, helping to raise two younger stepsiblings, with the social demands of a teenager and part-time jobs.

“This is when she established her work ethic and how determined she was,” Selman said.

Godfrey, who began to date Burton after they graduated from high school, said their classmates voted her “Most Dependable” during their senior year.

He said he always admired her ambition.

“She worked her way up from Opti World to have her own eye-care business. She always went to the ‘nth’ degree to make sure everything was perfect. She was the hardest working woman I had ever met in my life,” he said.

‘A DEFINITE LOSS’

Pam Godfrey said she met Burton 13 years ago after marrying Shane Godfrey.

Over the years, they had become parenting partners, phone buddies and best friends.

“We would always talk on the phone a few times a week. We would have lunch. Our kids played all the time,” she said. “Kim really really liked to dance at birthday parties and holiday parties. She was such a fun person to be around.”

Pam Godfrey, a professional photographer, said she enjoyed taking pictures of Burton and her two sons, 12-year-old Tanner and 8-year-old Davis.

“A lot of the pictures that will hang at her funeral I did,” she said. “Like when she was pregnant with Davis and Tanner is by her side.”

The boys will continue to be raised by their father, Burton’s first husband, Kevin Hicks, she said.

Godfrey said Burton and her family visited her about two weeks ago at her home in Jasper. The kids had watched a movie. Burton went for a ride on the Godfreys’ Razor four-wheeler.

“Shane wanted to scare her a little bit,” she said. “But she was an independent woman who could stand on her own. There’s going to be a definite loss in the community.”

Burton’s parents live in South Carolina and south Georgia, according to friends. Kevin Hicks and Shane Godfrey have handled her funeral arrangements.

A viewing will take place today from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Sosebee Funeral Home in Canton. The funeral service will be Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at New Life Worship Center in Canton.

To contact writer Ashley Tusan Joyner, call 744-4347.