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UPDATED: 6:15 p.m. December 29, 2007
Arrest warrant issued in videotaping incident

By RHONDA COOK
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 12/29/07

Atlanta police issued an arrest warrant Saturday for a man suspected of brutally beating a personal fitness trainer and putting him into a coma in a dispute that started when Mayor Shirley Franklin's daughters complained about being videotaped outside a nightclub.

Apollo Holmes, 24, is wanted on an aggravated assault charge for the early Wednesday attack on Darius Miller in a parking lot outside two popular Peachtree Street nightclubs in Midtown Atlanta, police said.


Police spokeswoman Judy Pal said the investigation was continuing and more arrests were possible.

Holmes was "affiliated" with 01 Entertainment, a party promoter that was videotaping an event the company staged at one of the nightclubs on Tuesday, Christmas night, and early the next morning, according to a lawyer for 01 Entertainment.

Attorney Page Pate said Holmes was in the parking lot at the time.
Miller, 41, remained in a coma Saturday at Emory Crawford Long Hospital.
Witnesses said the fight started because of objections to videotaping people leaving the clubs.

But the accounts differ on what happened as Kai Franklin Graham, 35, Kali Jamilla Franklin, 29, and a third woman who has not been identified came into an adjoining parking lot at 2:30 a.m. Wednesday.

In one version, witnesses said as soon as a man turned his video camera on the three women, Miller, who has a number of celebrity clients, asked him to stop. At that point, witnesses said, about 10 men attacked Miller.

But in a telephone interview Saturday, Pate said 01 Entertainment contends the sisters started the argument that led to Miller's injuries when Graham and her sister demanded the camera from the man they believed had just photographed them.

The attorney said Miller had gone to retrieve his truck and was not present when the dispute began.

"[The sisters] started arguing with them, saying they were already famous and they don't need to be famous," Pate said. "He heard the argument between the mayor's daughters and he jumped into the middle of it."
Pate said Miller tried to take the camera, and two other people came up to help the photographer.

"I don't think it was as big of a melee as has been described," Pate said. "There weren't a lot of blows thrown."

Then Miller went to his truck, "saying he wants to air this out," prompting one of the 01 Entertainment contractors to fear Miller was getting a weapon, Pate said.

"As he [Miller] was trying to go into the passenger seat ... he fell down and was wrestling with one of them," Pate said. Miller, he continued, "got back up and he fell again.... He fell back ... on the pavement with the back of his head."

Miller's publicist hung up the telephone when called for comment Saturday.
Franklin's daughters have been unavailable for comment since the incident.
On Saturday, the mayor's office e-mailed a statement from Franklin criticizing the news media. She did not address questions about the latest reports involving her daughters.

"This is an ongoing criminal investigation and as such all comments ... are best made to the Atlanta Police Department and not the press," Franklin said.

"As mayor I stand by APD's best practice standards for criminal investigations rather than reckless and unprofessional press frenzy," the statement continued. "As the daughter of an attorney and Pennsylvania judge I stand by my belief that trial by public opinion and reckless media often advance inaccurate and dangerous conclusions."

Asked about the attorney's version of what happened, police spokeswoman Pal said, "We've got enough evidence to issue an arrest warrant, and we'll let the justice system handle it from here."

Pate said the video camera operators did not know the severity of Miller's injuries or that the mayor's daughters were involved until Friday, when they saw news accounts of the incident.

"He did not tape the mayor's daughters," Pate said of the cameraman in the incident. "He did not even know who they were. I suppose the mayor's daughters thought they were being taped and became angry."

Graham pleaded guilty last month to one federal count of illegally structuring a financial transaction. Her plea agreement calls for her to serve three months of home confinement, followed by three years of probation. She will be sentenced in early 2008.

Pate said his clients will meet with detectives within a few days.
"They didn't know what was happening," Pate said. "It got out of control and alcohol fueled it."

Originally published by: The Atlanta Journal Constitution.

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By Mike Morris
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 01/01/08

A man wanted in connection with last week's brutal beating of a personal fitness trainer turned himself in to authorities Monday morning, Atlanta police said.

Apollo Holmes surrendered at the Fulton County Jail at around 8 a.m., according to Atlanta police spokesman James Polite.


Holmes, 24, has been charged with aggravated assault in the attack early Wednesday on Darius Miller in a parking lot outside two popular Peachtree Street nightclubs in Midtown Atlanta.

Miller, 41, was attacked during a dispute that witnesses said started when Mayor Shirley Franklin's daughters complained about being videotaped outside one of the clubs. He remained in a coma over the weekend at Emory Crawford Long Hospital.

Police spokeswoman Judy Pal has said the investigation was continuing and that more arrests were possible.

Holmes was "affiliated" with 01 Entertainment, a party promoter that was videotaping an event the company staged at one of the clubs Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning, according to a lawyer for 01 Entertainment. Attorney Page Pate said Holmes was in the parking lot at the time.
Witnesses said the fight started because of objections to videotaping people leaving the clubs.

But accounts differ on what happened as Kai Franklin Graham, 35, Kali Jamilla Franklin, 29, and a third woman who has not been identified came into an adjoining parking lot at 2:30 a.m. Wednesday.

In one version, witnesses said as soon as a man turned his video camera on the three women, Miller, who has a number of celebrity clients, asked him to stop. At that point, witnesses said, about 10 men attacked Miller.

But in a telephone interview Saturday, Pate said 01 Entertainment contends the sisters started the argument that led to Miller's injuries when Graham and her sister demanded the camera.

Pate said Miller came late to the argument, and tried to take the camera. After punches were thrown early, Miller was hurt in a subsequent scuffle near his truck, Pate said.

Staff writer Rhonda Cook contributed to this article.

Originally Published by the AJC.

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Bail Granted to Suspect in Beating

By Beth Warren
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 01/05/08

The mother of a celebrity fitness trainer critically injured when he was beaten in a Midtown parking lot made an emotional plea to a judge Friday to think of her comatose son before granting bail to a suspect.

Patricia Bonhomme told Fulton County Magistrate Richard Hicks that her only son, Darius Miller, 41, nearly died when his heart stopped, but doctors were able to bring him back.


Doctors at Emory Crawford Long Hospital have told the family Miller may never come out of his vegetative state, Bonhomme said.

"I sit there watching my son suffer," the mother said. "This violence has to stop. My son is lying there fighting for his life with tubes down him."

Hicks told the victims' mother, "I feel for you," but under Georgia law, he had to grant bail to Apollo Holmes, who has no criminal record. He set it at $100,000.

Holmes, 24, is charged with aggravated assault in the attack on Miller.
Accounts differ regarding what happened the night of Dec. 16 outside two popular Peachtree Street nightclubs. One thing that is known is that Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin's two daughters, Kai Franklin Graham, 35, and Kali Jamilla Franklin, 29, were present.

In one version, witnesses said a man turned his video camera on Graham, Franklin and a third, unidentified woman, and Miller, a friend of the mayor's daughters, asked him to stop. At that point, witnesses said, about 10 men attacked Miller.

Page Pate, an attorney for 01 Entertainment, a party promoter filming an event at one of the clubs, has told a different story. He said witnesses told him the fight started after the three women became upset when they thought someone was videotaping them leaving a club about 2:30 a.m.

Miller stepped in and tried to take the video camera as several men crowded around him, Pate said. A scuffle ensued, and Miller ended up striking his head on the pavement, the attorney said.

Holmes' attorney, Bruce Harvey, brought in several witnesses who were ready to testify. The defendant's newborn son also was brought to court.

But Hicks opted not to hear from the supporters. Besides granting bail to Holmes, the judge assigned him a 6 p.m. curfew and ordered him to live with his mother in Mableton.

Holmes will continue his job at a rug manufacturing plant but cannot keep working nights as a front-desk security guard at a condominium due to the curfew, Harvey said.

Fulton prosecutor Jack Barrs said outside court that the case remains under investigation.

"There are other arrests coming," Barrs said without elaborating.


Originally posted by the AJC.