Rowland Wayne Barnes (April 25, 1940 – March 11, 2005) was an American Superior Court Judge in

Fulton County Fulton County is the name of eight counties in the United States of America. Most are named for Robert Fulton, inventor of the first practical steamboat: *Fulton County, Arkansas, named after Governor William Savin Fulton *Fulton County, Georgia *F ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. He oversaw the 2003 trial of the professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

player

Dany Heatley Daniel "Dany" James Heatley (born January 21, 1981) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey winger. Originally drafted by the Atlanta Thrashers second overall in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft, he won the Calder Memorial Trophy as the National ...

, who was charged with

vehicular homicide Vehicular homicide is a crime that involves the death of a person other than the driver as a result of either criminally negligent or murderous operation of a motor vehicle. In cases of criminal negligence, the defendant is commonly charged w ...

after the death of teammate Dan Snyder in a car accident. In an unrelated incident, Judge Barnes was shot to death in his courtroom in 2005.

Education and employment

Barnes attended Frankfurt High School in Germany and

Lebanon Valley College Lebanon Valley College (LVC, Lebanon Valley, or The Valley) is a private college in Annville, Pennsylvania. History Lebanon Valley was founded on February 23, 1866, with classes beginning May 7 of that year and its first class graduating in 1870 ...

Annville, Pennsylvania Annville Township is a township and census-designated place in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania. The population was 4,767 at the 2010 census. History Annville Township was divided into North Annville Township and South Annville Township in 1845. ...

, from which he graduated in 1962. He studied business and then law at

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , preside ...

and then graduated from

Emory University School of Law Emory University School of Law is the law school of Emory University and is part of the University's main campus in Druid Hills, Atlanta, Georgia. It was founded in 1916 and was the first law school in Georgia to be granted membership in the Am ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, Georgia, in 1972. At the time of his death he held the title of adjunct professor at Emory. Barnes had served as a city judge and a magistrate before his appointment by

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Zell Miller Zell Bryan Miller (February 24, 1932 – March 23, 2018) was an American author and politician from the state of Georgia. A Democrat, Miller served as lieutenant governor from 1975 to 1991, 79th Governor of Georgia from 1991 to 1999, and as U.S ...

to the Fulton Superior Court in 1998.

Murder

Barnes was murdered in his courtroom on March 11, 2005, by

Brian Nichols Brian Gene Nichols (born December 10, 1971) is a rapist and murderer known for his escape and killing spree in the Fulton County Courthouse in Atlanta, Georgia, on March 11, 2005. Nichols was on trial for rape when he escaped custody and murde ...

, who was convicted for the crime and sentenced to life imprisonment. Nichols attacked a sheriff's deputy and was able to take her gun, and then went to the courtroom and shot Judge Barnes, his court reporter, and later a sheriff's deputy and a federal agent, all of whom died of their injuries. Nichols was taken into custody at an apartment complex in

Duluth, Georgia Duluth is a city in Gwinnett County, Georgia, Gwinnett County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. Located north of Interstate 85, it is approximately northeast of Atlanta. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, Duluth had a ...

, the following day.

External links

Lebanon Valley College Memorial Project

In Memory of Judge Rowland W. Barnes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnes, Rowland 1940 births 2005 deaths 2005 murders in the United States American murder victims Assassinated American judges Georgia (U.S. state) state court judges George Washington University School of Business alumni People murdered in Georgia (U.S. state) Deaths by firearm in Georgia (U.S. state) Emory University School of Law alumni Lebanon Valley College alumni Emory University faculty 20th-century American judges George Washington University Law School alumni