Frank James Hawkins Jr., of 939 Cleo St., Cedartown, who was 17 at the time of the alleged incident last spring, remained seated at the defendent's table in Polk County Superior Court this afternoon waiting for a jury to determine his fate. His parents were sitting nearby while the court handled the pleas of other, less serious cases.
According to court officials, the jury was expected to hand down a verdict by 5 p.m. today.
Hawkins faces charges of rape, kidnapping, aggravated assault, armed robbery and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime. He was arrested last April by Cedartown police after the victim called 911.
The victim, whose name is being withheld in keeping with The Polk Fishwrap's policy in sexual assault cases, had been shot in the leg with a small cailber handgun. She was treated at Floyd Medical Center (FMC) in Rome.
According to the initial investigation, Hawkins was a passenger in the woman's vehicle. The victim said Hawkins threatened her at gunpoint and forced her to drive to a local bank. She was then forced to withdraw money from her checking account through the automatic teller machine, still at gunpoint, police said.
At some point during this kidnapping and armed robbery incident, the woman was shot. Her passenger then forced her, still at gunpoint, to drive him to another location in Cedartown, where he exited the vehicle.
Based on a description and other information from a witness, an arrest warrant was issued the next morning and Hawkins was taken into custody.
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