Year in Review: Shannon Lawrence

Over the next few days, Canton-Sixes Patch will take a look back at some of the top local stories of 2011.

Shannon Speaks; June 8, 2011 The story: Shannon Lawrence, a 25-year-old mother of two from Canton, died after she was shot four times in the face and neck in the parking lot of Birmingham Crossroads in Milton. Lawrence and the children's father, who never married, used the shopping center as the drop-off point when exchanging their children. Authorities arrested the father, Christopher Erdman of Cumming, within hours of the June 5 shooting. From the story: "On Jan. 31, Shannon Lawrence asked the Forsyth County Superior Court for a temporary protective order against Christopher Erdman, the father of her children and the man suspected of shooting her four times in the face and neck on Sunday." The rest of the story: Stanley Constant, Erdman'…

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State Seeks Death Penalty

Christopher Erdman is accused of fatally shooting a Canton woman in Milton.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in the case of a man accused of shooting the mother of his two children during a June custody exchange. Christopher Erdman of Cumming was arraigned today on eight charges: murder, two counts of felony murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated stalking, two counts of cruelty to children and possession of a firearm during commission of a felony. Authorities said Erdman, 25, allegedly shot Shannon Lawrence of Canton four times in the face and neck on June 5 as the two met in a bank parking lot across from the Birmingham Crossroads shopping center in Milton. Erdman and Lawrence, who never married, used the shopping center as the drop-off point when exchanging their two children. …

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Fulton Postpones Erdman Hearing

Scheduling conflict causes delay in case against man accused of shooting his children's mother, 25-year-old Shannon Lawrence of Canton.

A court hearing scheduled for this morning, Oct. 7, for Christopher M. Erdman, accused in the shooting death of Shannon Lawrence, was postponed because of scheduling conflicts, according to Yvette Brown of the Fulton County District Attorney's office. No new date for the hearing in Fulton County Superior Court, in which a plea was expected from the defendant, was released. Erdman has been charged in the shooting death of Lawrence, the mother of their two children, in Milton on June 4.

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Suspect in Fatal Custody Swap Sentenced in Unrelated Case

More than a year after a June 2010 dispute with a Decatur man, Christopher Erdman pleads guilty to a disorderly conduct charge.

Already facing felony murder and other charges in the shooting death of his children's mother, a Forsyth County judge this month slapped Christopher Erdman with a year-long sentence for his role in a dispute with a security guard from Decatur. Erdman is the 25-year-old Cumming man who allegedly shot Shannon Lawrence of Canton four times in the face and neck on June 5 as the two met in a bank parking lot across from the Birmingham Crossroads shopping center in Milton, police said. Erdman and Lawrence, 25, who never married, used the shopping center as the drop-off point when exchanging their two children. Lawrence died at Northside Hospital-Forsyth in Cumming. Nearly a year before the shooting, according to Forsyth County Sheriff's Office …

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Canton Woman's Family Reacts to Testimony

After hearing a Cumming man claim self-defense in the shooting death of their daughter, Shannon Lawrence's mother and father shared their thoughts.

Emotions ran high after Christopher M. Erdman, a 25-year-old Cumming man charged in the June 5 shooting death of Shannon Lawrence, was denied bond Wednesday in Fulton County Superior Court. Erdman was charged with felony murder, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony in the death of his children's mother.  Members of the Lawrence family as well as numerous friends attended the hearing. “Shannon had many representing her," her mother, Diana Macksey, said in an e-mail to Patch. "I believe there were 14 friends and witnesses available if needed. Her whole family was there and we are united together to help us all get through this." Judge Karen Woodson dismissed two felony child cruelty counts after …

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Bond Denied in Fatal Custody Swap

But a Fulton judge dismissed two felony child cruelty counts after prosecutors could not present conclusive evidence that the children of Shannon Lawrence and Christopher Erdman were present during the shooting.

Despite pleas for his release by his mother and father, a 25-year-old Cumming man charged in the June 5 shooting death of a Canton woman was denied bond today in Fulton County Superior Court. Christopher M. Erdman will remain in the Fulton County Jail until at least Aug. 10 when Judge Karen Woodson set his next court date. Erdman is charged with felony murder, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony in the death of his children's mother, 25-year-old Shannon Lawrence. Woodson dismissed two felony child cruelty counts after prosecutors could not present conclusive evidence that the couple’s two children had been present during the shooting. During a lengthy hearing attended by the parents, family and …

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'Goodbye, For Now'

Family and friends remember Shannon Lawrence during an emotional funeral in Woodstock.

Hundreds of people flocked to St. Michael the Archangel this afternoon to remember Shannon Lawrence, the 25-year-old Canton woman who died after Sunday's fatal custody swap in Milton. The vestibule of the Woodstock church was filled with poster-size photos of Lawrence and numerous floral arrangements. As the service began, it also held friends who could no longer find a pew in the 700-seat church. Mourners began to arrive an hour before mass. They greeted one another with hugs, tears and stories about Shannon. Among those in attendance were members of the Marine Corps League and the Warriors' Watch Riders, there to support Karen Lawrence, Shannon's stepmother and a U.S. Marine.  Father Larry Niese – Father Larry to his parishoners – was …

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Crime Blotter

Suspect, Victim Had Rocky Times

As the visitation for Shannon Lawrence gets underway in Woodstock, newly released Cherokee County Sheriff's Office reports offer a glimpse into the woman's troubled relationship with shooting suspect Christopher Erdman.

Christopher Erdman and Shannon Lawrence had a rocky relationship. There were calls to law enforcement. There were protective and restraining orders. There were court interventions. And on Sunday, there were gunshots. Lawrence, 25, of Canton, was shot four times in the face and neck in the parking lot of Birmingham Crossroads, 15780 Birmingham Hwy., Milton Police Capt. Shawn McCarty said. She later died from those wounds at Northside Hospital-Forsyth in Cumming. Newly released records supplied by the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office reveal years of friction, usually over their two children, a son who turned one year old today and a daughter who will turn three on June 25. The first known call to the sheriff's office was placed at 1:11 p.m. …

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Crime Blotter

Shannon Speaks

The 25-year-old Canton woman who died after Sunday's fatal custody swap in Milton typed this note to the Forsyth County Superior Court on Jan. 31.

On Jan. 31, Shannon Lawrence asked the Forsyth County Superior Court for a temporary protective order against Christopher Erdman, the father of her children and the man suspected of shooting her four times in the face and neck on Sunday. As part of that petition, which was granted but later dismissed, she typed the words on page 3 of the above PDF file. Visitors can pay their respects to the Lawrence family from 4 to 9 p.m. Thursday at Woodstock Funeral Home. A funeral mass has been scheduled for 2 p.m. Friday at St. Michael the Archangel in Woodstock, followed by a procession to Cherokee Memorial Park in Canton. Randy Lawrence, Shannon's father, said that a trust fund has been set up for his two grandchildren, Emma Catherine Marie Erdman …

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