1/18/17
By: Rob Moore
CLEVELAND — A White County jury has found a Jasper man guilty of two counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with a 2014 shooting death on the street in downtown Helen.
Glenn Patrick Lampien, 55, was found guilty on the two counts in the death of 68-year-old May Araim of Houston, Texas, who was walking on the Marketplatz downtown.
The verdict was recorded just after 5:30 Tuesday afternoon.
Lampien was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter because “while in the discharge of a firearm near a public highway, an unlawful act, [Lampien] did cause the death of May Araim, a human being, without any intention to do so, by discharging a handgun, without legal justification, within 50 yards of Main Street, Helen, Ga., a public highway, contrary to the laws of said state, the good order, peace and dignity thereof,” court documents state.
Additionally, Lampien was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter because while in the commission of reckless conduct, an unlawful act, [Lampien] did cause the death of May Araim, a human being, without any intention to do so, by discharging a handgun while pointing the handgun in the direction of a sidewalk where there were numerous persons present, contrary to the laws of said state, the good order, peace and dignity thereof,” court documents state.
The jury found Lampien not guilty of felony murder, aggravated assault, and a count of involuntary manslaughter by discharge of a firearm while under the influence of alcohol.
The incident happened around 10:40 p.m. Aug. 16, 2014, along Main Street (Ga. 75).
Helen police officers initially were dispatched to a call of shots fired on North Main Street near the Biergarten. When officers reached the area, they saw a man sitting on a bench with an apparent gunshot wound to his hand.
That male was found to be in possession of a small-caliber handgun.
Additionally, officers on scene were made aware of an injured woman just across North Main Street.
Araim was pronounced dead on the scene.
“It was determined that the male had accidentally discharged the weapon into his hand,” said then-Helen Police Chief Jim Couch said. “The bullet then traveled across Main Street, striking the female victim in the side.”
