Former Clayton NAACP treasurer charged with pilfering funds

By Christian Boone

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A former top Clayton NAACP official -- accused of embezzling up to $30,000 from the venerable civil rights organization -- is finally getting her day in court some three years after charges were first filed.

Prosecutors allege the funds were stolen by Donna Hall Lemons during her tenure as Clayton NAACP treasurer from 2004-06. The 51-year-old McDonough woman was charged in Oct. 2006 but for reasons unknown her case was never tried by then-Clayton District Attorney Jewel Scott.

"[My client] thought it was over and then all of the sudden she's in jail," Willie Davis, Lemons' attorney, told the AJC.

The case was revived following the 2008 election of Tracy Graham Lawson as Clayton's new district attorney. In December the D.A.'s office refiled three felony theft charges against the former NAACP treasurer. After Lemons missed her Jan. 6 arraignment a bench warrant was served and within five days she was locked up with no bail until Monday's arraignment, when a $5,000 bond was set.

Her trial is scheduled to begin March 15

Lemons' supporters say her accusers lack proof.

"They're lying if they say she stole," said Lemons' sister, Tujuanna Brown, 43. "The Clayton NAACP doesn't get that much money in donations anyway."

Davis said Lemons was scapegoated by the NAACP following a dispute over $600 in unaccounted for funds.

"There's supposed to be an audit at the end of each fiscal year but they didn't do that," he said. "No one's provided any documents proving [Lemons] did this. This has the potential to be very embarrassing for the Clayton County NAACP."

Clayton County NAACP President Dexter Matthews declined comment when reached by the AJC.

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