The Newton County Sheriff's Office along with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation should be commended for wasting no time on Saturday investigating and making an arrest in the county's sixth homicide of 2008.

In a case that eventually crossed state lines into Alabama, NCSO officials and officers worked with GBI officials and law enforcement officials in Alabama to make an arrest less than 12 hours after the body of the victim was discovered.

Though Newton County is well ahead of its homicide pace of 2007, the NCSO has made an arrest in all but one case, a double homicide that occurred at the end of January. The NCSO made arrests in all nine homicide cases of 2007 as well.

Solving all crimes is important in Newton County, but investigating the motives behind murder and making arrests in those cases is important for many aspects of life from safety issues to economic stability.

A county with tons of unsolved crime is a county that will struggle to attract residents and businesses. Knowing that police in our county have the resources and the knowledge to solve cases in the critical 24 hours after the incident should be a relief to the residents of Newton County.