Local News
Valentine's Day: Lovers make news in Atlanta
If there's anything worse than a break-up, it's a break-up that plays out in the public eye.
Atlanta has seen its fair share of such tales of woe, and we present them now as an antidote for those who'd rather watch a Jennifer Lopez movie marathon than read another story about the power of love.
- In 2005, Jennifer Wilbanks was all set to marry her fiance in a lavish Duluth wedding. But on the eve of her wedding Wilbanks got cold feet and fled to New Mexico. No one would've remembered that had Wilbanks not concocted a phony story about being kidnapped by a Hispanic man who sexually assaulted her. She was charged with lying to police and pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor. More damning may be the nickname she'll never shed, "the Runaway Bride."
- Her message, "You are my soul mate forever," posted on two metro Atlanta billboards in 2010, may have seemed sweet, but YaVaughnie Wilkins was motivated by revenge, not love. She reportedly paid for the billboard space after learning her boyfriend, Oracle exec Charles Phillips, had decided to reconcile with his wife. Phillips eventually released a statement acknowledging an affair with Wilkins that concluded, cryptically, "The relationship with Ms. Wilkins has since ended and we both wish each other well."
- They were prominent pastors married in an elaborate televised wedding. Almost six years later, televangelist Juanita Bynum and Bishop Thomas W. Weeks III were divorced after he allegedly pushed, kicked and beat her in the parking lot of the Renaissance Concourse Hotel in Aug. 2007. The pair continued their ministries -- separately -- and Bynum secured a job as an adviser on the syndicated TV show "Divorce Court."
- She was a famous singer with the Atlanta-based trio TLC. He was an All-Pro receiver with the Atlanta Falcons. But despite their individual accomplishments, Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, who died in 2002, and Andre Rison are perhaps best-known by their literally fiery relationship. In 1994, Lopes, seeking revenge after a fight in which she said Rison physically assaulted her, set fire to her boyfriend's tennis shoes in the bathtub of his Alpharetta mansion. The fire spread, destroying the $800,000-plus home. Lopes was charged but did not serve any jail time. Of course, to non-cynics, Lopes and Rison's was a love story, for he professed his devotion to Left Eye even after she torched his house. Lopes, appearing with Rison at the 2000 Grammys, said even she didn't understand their attraction.
About the Author
A native Atlantan, Boone joined the AJC staff in 2007. He quickly carved out a niche covering crime stories, assuming the public safety beat in 2014. He's covered some of the biggest trials this decade, from Hemy Neuman to Ross Harris to Chip Olsen, the latter of which was featured on Season 7 of the AJC's award-winning "Breakdown" podcast.
