GUILTY GA - Darla Gibbons, 23, found slain in burned car, Athens, 22 Oct 2014

Athens-Clarke County police have expanded their investigation into the death of a young woman whose burned body was found in a car last month.

Police said the victim, 23-year-old Darla Gibbons, most likely knew her killer. Her remains were found Oct. 23 in the 1300 block of Winterville Road.

Athens-Clarke County police Lt. Christopher Nichols said the investigation has evolved into a multi-county probe. So far, police have interviewed one potential suspect. He was arrested on an unrelated firearms charge out of Greene County.

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Johnson says her daughter was tortured, killed, stuffed in the trunk of her car and set on fire...

Police and GBI investigators only confirm she was shot to death before being burned in the car. Police told Channel 2’s Steve Gehlbach they don’t believe Gibbons was shot and killed at the rock quarry. They believe it was used merely as a dump site.

GBI special agent in charge Mike Ayers says they've arrested her long-term boyfriend Rodricus Ward, of Greene County. He's in custody on a charge of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, charges unrelated to Johnson's murder. But investigators are expecting additional charges soon.

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Family and friends describe Darla Gibbons as playful and goofy, passionate and creative. The many sides of the 26-year-old are memorialized on a quilt recently presented to Sandra Johnson, mother of the woman who was found murdered in east Athens two months ago...

At Albany State University, Gibbons belonged to a theatre ensemble and was a program director and producer at radio station REAL 92.7. She also was activities director for the school’s Department of Housing and Residence Life and belonged to the Chi Tau Omega chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.

After earning a degree in mass communications and media studies, Gibbons last year worked as a production assistant for VH1. She was considering attending graduate school and was writing scripts for a planned film and online series.

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The accused murderer of a Cedar Shoals High School graduate whose body was found in the trunk of her burnt car at an Athens quarry a year ago was arraigned Monday in Greene County Superior Court.

Rodricus Ward pleaded not guilty to all charges in an indictment charging him with malice murder and multiple other felonies in the death of 23-year-old Darla Gibbons...

Authorities believe Ward fatally shot Gibbons at his home in Greensboro, put her in the trunk of her own car, then drove to Athens, where he set the car on fire.

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Dressed in a red, white and blue flannel button-down, Rodricus Deuntey Ward, was quickly placed in handcuffs in the historic Greene County Courthouse after Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit Superior Court Chief Judge William A. Prior sentenced him to life in prison with no chance of parole plus five years, as a result of six guilty verdicts after a court hearing that consumed much of last week.

The 27-year-old accused killer was found guilty by a Greene County Superior Court jury of the murder of Atlanta resident Darla LaDavia Gibbons, his on-again, off-again girlfriend of nine years.

The jury unanimously found Ward, represented by Public Defender Darrell Mitchell, to be guilty of malice murder, two counts of felony murder, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

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