Morning, y’all! I swear I saw pink lightning in the Smyrna area as those storms rolled in last night. It’s totally possible: Lightning can appear different colors based on how far away you are and what combination of elements are in the atmosphere. “Pink Lightning” also makes a great name for a gender-swapped production of “Grease.”
Let’s get to it.
CONFUSION IN CLAYTON COUNTY
Questions are piling up as to how a man convicted of murder was mistakenly released from a Clayton County jail and why he still hasn’t been apprehended weeks later.
Or, for that matter, why the Clayton jail and local law enforcement haven’t informed the public.
- Kathan Guzman was serving a life sentence in prison for choking and killing a young woman in 2022. He was sentenced in October.
- The Clayton sheriff’s office released Guzman on error around March 25, according to the DA’s office. He has not been recaptured, and there has been no public notice of his accidental release.
- His victim’s mother said the DA’s office, which isn’t involved in the manhunt, told her the release was due to a coding error. “And this is the problem: I have not seen a ‘Wanted’ nothing,” Christina Grayson told Channel 2 Action News. “I have not seen an alert or nothing. They have not alerted anyone.”
- Clayton DA Tasha Mosley didn’t mince words talking about the mistake. “I have no idea why they released this man,” she told the AJC. “We are just as disappointed and pissed off as everybody else.”
- As of Wednesday afternoon, the AJC found no mention of Guzman’s release on official social media accounts or press releases. The sheriff’s office has not responded to multiple requests for information, and Guzman’s lawyer declined to comment.
🔎 READ MORE: DA’s office, victim’s family angered at scant explanation for prisoner’s release
Clayton Sheriff Levon Allen did talk to Channel 2 Action News, and said the release was the result of a training failure. He added someone may have made the decision based on a single dismissed charge on Guzman’s record.
Losing prisoners isn’t as uncommon as you think — or at least, as you may hope.
It happened at the Clayton County jail before in 2022, when a man accused of murder was accidentally freed during a transfer from the Fulton County jail to Clayton. In 2018, a man convicted of murder walked from the DeKalb County jail after a misunderstanding during a hearing for additional charges. Both men were eventually recaptured. Guzman is still on the run, and experts say he may be long gone by now.
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DEPORTATION FEARS AT UGA
Some University of Georgia students had their visas terminated this week, sending a spike of fear through the academic community. In recent days, the Trump administration increased efforts to terminate student visas, and the rationale isn’t clear.
- Foreign students across the country have had visas stripped and received orders from the Department of Homeland Security to depart the U.S. immediately.
- Some have been targeted for participating in pro-Palestinian activities. Others were reportedly targeted for criminal infractions, traffic violations, or no discernible reason at all.
- One UGA professor said a graduate student’s visa was recently revoked. “I have a couple international students who are just f------ scared,” she told the AJC.
- When asked about revoked visas, UGA, Georgia Tech and Georgia State universities all gave vague statements that promised their respective administrations are in contact with affected students.
- Some school officials in the U.S. claim the federal government is bypassing university systems entirely and deleting foreign students’ records themselves.
- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement also terminated student visas for four individuals (one current student and three alumni) at Emory University, the private Atlanta school said Thursday. Emory did not detail why the visas were revoked.
READ MORE: What students and staff at UGA are saying about the situation
MUST-KNOW POLITICS AND BUSINESS
🗳️ The U.S. House has passed the SAVE Act, a voting act that would require proof of citizenship, like a passport or birth certificate to vote. Critics say this will make it harder for citizens without easy access to that documentation to vote. That includes people who have had name changes, like many married women.
🚌 MARTA’s push for more traffic cameras to keep cars out of bus lanes once again fizzled at the Capitol this year. It could become an issue when the agency’s first bus rapid transit route opens in 2026. (Assuming they don’t find any more abandoned underground parking garages.)
👬 Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and House Speaker Jon Burns say they don’t have bad blood after the state Senate shut down the last day of 2025 legislation early. But some of their comments suggest otherwise.
ORANGE CRUSH ORGANIZERS REVIVING GOOD TIMES
Orange Crush, the fabled HBCU spring break party that’s attracted many a controversy over the years — both warranted and unwarranted — is returning to Tybee Island on April 19.
This time, though, the party’s organizers want to prove they can keep it from going sour.
Steven Smalls and George Ransom Turner are heading this year’s event, and they’re taking great measures to make sure everything goes smoothly. Among the provisions:
- Promoters can’t sell anything other than water and event merchandise.
- Music and dancing are limited to before dark.
- Organizers can’t rope off sections of the beach or charge admission.
“We want to prove that Orange Crush can be a valuable event for the city of Tybee and the residents,” Smalls told the AJC.
🍊 READ MORE: Orange Crush, why it’s such a big deal, and how these two men see its future
After all, Orange Crush revelers definitely don’t want what’s happening in Florida. Earlier this week, Panama City Beach police chief J.R. Talamantez called out Georgia parents and told them to come get their unaccompanied spring breaking kids.
“They’re using drugs, they’re getting in fistfights, they’re throwing things at our police officers,” he said. “We’re just having to arrest kid after kid after kid for a situation that their parents should have never let them put themselves in in the first place.”
Many of those arrests are of people between 14 and 17 years old, Talamantez added.
WEEKEND PLANS THAT DON’T INVOLVE GETTING ARRESTED IN PANAMA CITY BEACH
Spring break sounds exhausting. Good thing it’s spring here, too, and our favorite festivals are in bloom.
🍹 Atlanta’s most scenic open air spots: Catch a drink with friends and admire the “if you built a Bundt pan in Minecraft” silhouette of Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
🎭 The Georgia Renaissance Festival opens this weekend! Celebrate its 40th Anniversary for eight weekends from April 12 through June 1. Turkey legs and becorseted bosoms abound!
☀️ The Atlanta Dogwood Festival is a classic walk in the park. It’s even better if you go in prepared to invest in very fancy art. (Or just a few plates of food truck fare.)
🌷 Get growing at Garden Faire. This North Fulton Master Gardeners event is Saturday in Alpharetta. You can buy all kinds of plants, like heirloom varieties and eco-friendly native plants. Your local bees, birds and butterflies will thank you.
Explore more exciting things to do around ATL this weekend, from arts festivals to chill concerts.
NEWS BITES
Upcoming exams adding stress to your house? Here are therapist-approved tips for academic anxiety
And to anyone taking some: You’re gonna do great! There’s a life after exams, trust me.
The 42nd Miss Spelman pageant is Saturday, and TikToks about it have already gone viral
All beacons of grace, and queens on their throne.
Oscars to add stunt design award to its 100th ceremony
About flippin’, crashin’, death-defyin’ time!
Cabot Creamery butter recalled over fecal bacteria contamination
Worst secret ingredient ever.
ON THIS DATE
April 11, 1968
From the front page of The Atlanta Constitution: Civil Rights Bill Passed By 250-171 House Vote As Blocking Move Fails. Georgians All Vote Against.
A little reminder from history for us Atlantans to never rest on the laurels of our city’s Civil Rights legacy. There’s always work to be done.
ONE MORE THING
Our extraordinary editor Sabrina dropped this bit of wisdom on me yesterday, in the midst of all the pimento cheese talk: Even though the pepper is often spelled “pimiento,” the cheese spread (and thus the sandwich) is “pimento.” Go forth and be pedantic!
Also, Passover starts Saturday. Chag sameach, y’all!
Thanks for reading to the very bottom of A.M. ATL. Questions, comments, ideas? Contact me at AMATL@ajc.com.
Until next time.
About the Author
AJ Willingham is an National Emmy, NABJ and Webby award-winning journalist who loves talking culture, religion, sports, social justice, infrastructure and the arts. She lives in beautiful Smyrna-Mableton and went to Syracuse University.
