A perusal of stories from The Moultrie Observer’s 2010 editions presents a recurring theme of violence, and one of the most tragic episodes of violence was chosen by readers as the most significant local story of the year.

Following an argument with his wife Oct. 11, Kaije McDougald, an instructional provider at Stringfellow Elementary School, shot his son and stepson to death then turned the gun on himself. His wife, Angela McDougald, a school resource officer at C.A. Gray Junior High School, was not shot but she was injured during the fight that preceded the shooting.

The McDougald case was not the first slaying of the year, far from it. It wasn’t even the county’s first murder-suicide. A shooting at Universal Forest Products in February holds that dubious distinction.

Including those, the county saw seven incidents that included violent deaths in 2010 — not counting suicides and fatal accidents, of which there were several. Those violent deaths included:

• Jan. 26. Juan David Giron Lopez, 18, of 1011 Joe Louis Ave., was shot to death when he resisted three robbers in the back yard of his residence. Demetrius Key, 18, of Moultrie; Tamocious Collins, 18, of Moultrie; and Maurice Welch, 16, were charged separately over the next two weeks and were indicted in June. Key and Collins pleaded guilty in November.

• Feb. 1. Cesar Augusta Ardiano Larios, 29, of Norman Park, shot Letitia Duran Carbajal, 38, of Tifton, to death at Universal Forest Products before taking his own life.

• March 14. Willie Bender Jr., 29, of 504 Fourth St. S.W., was shot multiple times outside his residence and died at the scene.

• May 27. The body of Sunday Blombergh, 28, of Tifton was found in northern Colquitt County. Three people were quickly charged in the case, and a fourth — Blombergh’s estranged husband — was charged later. Authorities said Blombergh was actually killed in Tift County but her body was dumped in the woods on the Colquitt side of the county line.

• June 15. The body of Arius Martin, 23, was found in the Rowland Drive area. Martin was allegedly one of two robbers who injured Rosa Medrano behind her restaurant on Rowland Drive the previous night. Medrano’s husband shot at the fleeing robbers and was not aware he’d hit one until Martin’s body was found the next morning. Police later charged Malcolm Dewayne Williams of Valdosta with felony murder; he was believed to have been the second robber. Three other people were charged with obstructing officers in their investigation of the robbery and shooting.

• July 2. Alvin Hunt Jr., 26, was shot to death outside Shy Manor Apartments. Four people, including a juvenile, were charged later in the month in connection with the slaying.

• Oct. 11. Kaije McDougald killed his son, Bakari McDougald; his stepson, Quentin Grimsley; and himself at their home outside Moultrie.

Other significant incidents of violence reported in The Observer in 2010 include:

• Jan. 13. A fleeing burglar fired shots at a Moultrie police officer and a homeowner. Jack Delane Byrd III, 25, pleaded guilty and received a suspended sentence in March.

• Feb. 3. Courtney Jamaine Mitchell, 26, of 720 13th St. S.W., was charged with aggravated assault and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon after he allegedly fired a shot into the ground then hit Henry Godfrey with the gun.

• Feb. 9. Abe Dennis, Sixth Avenue Northwest, reported two men he’d given a ride to hit him with pistols after taking his money.

• Feb. 10. Moultrie businessman Tom Holman was taken to Colquitt Regional Medical Center after being mugged in the parking lot of First Presbyterian Church.

• Feb. 16. Marcus Richardson, 25, was hit multiple times when someone shot up his car in the 800 block of Eighth Avenue Southeast. Richardson’s cousin, Simon Peter Johnson Jr., 20, was arrested in March, and Richardson himself was charged with firearms and drug offenses in the incident.

• March 9. A tow truck driver exchanged gunfire with a man in a car outside his shop. No one was injured.

• March 16. Anterrio Merrit, of Norman Park, was shot by two men in a black Chrysler 300 while he was walking on Honey Bear Road. He was treated and released from the hospital.

• March 18. A fight at the Funky Monkey Tavern sent Joshua William Walden, 24, and John Riggins to the hospital, where both were treated and released. Riggins had been stabbed, law enforcement officers said. Walden and Alton Shane Olliff, 23, were charged.

• March 18. A juvenile boy was beaten and robbed outside the Cocomo Inns and Suites on First Avenue Southeast.

• March 24. A homeowner shot a man breaking into her house on Second Avenue Southeast. Michael Sharrod Daniels, 21, was charged with burglary and probation violation after he was released from the hospital.

• March 24. Jennifer Ann Balfour, 38, was charged with aggravated assault after she allegedly tried to stab David Cobb during a domestic dispute the previous weekend.

• March 31. Dana Patterson, a clerk at the Dollar General Store in Norman Park, was shot during a robbery of the store.

• March 31. Angie Renee Beasley, 30, was charged with aggravated assault after she allegedly hit Michael Holt with a baseball bat.

• April 18. Jennifer Karrell Sanders, 25, was charged with aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime after allegedly shooting at Maurice Pace.

• April 29. Tommy Kenton, 27, of Moultrie, was stabbed during an altercation in Norman Park.

• April 29. Jimmy Ladon Golden, 36, of Cairo and Angela Margurite Foster, 33 of Norman Park, were charged in connection with a series of fights that left one person stabbed, four with other injuries and two cars damaged.

• May 1. Lovonne Freeman Young, 46, was charged in connection with a stabbing and theft.

• June 6. John Conway was stabbed multiple times on West Boulevard but was uncooperative with officers. He was treated and released from Colquitt Regional Medical Center.

• June 18. Felicia Debruce, 30, was charged with stabbing her husband.

• June 24. Antonio Gonzalez, of Omega, was stabbed by an acquaintance during an argument.

• June 26. Ignacio Ruis reported he and his housemates were beaten and robbed by three armed men who broke into their house on Green Street.

• July 2. Cheryl Thomas Edwards, 49, was charged with stabbing her brother.

• July 7. Derrick Brown was wounded by a gunshot on Camilla Highway.

• July 11. Bobby Ellerson was injured in a fight with about 10 other men at a Hillcrest Avenue residence.

• July 20. Jimmy Myers, of 11th Court Southeast, was shot six times during an apparent daylight home invasion. He was released from the hospital the next day. Police said there was a connection between this case and the shooting of Alvin Hunt on July 2, and some of the same people were charged in both incidents.

• July 31. Francisco Juarez Ortiz, 26, was charged with attacking another man with a machete on Greenfield Church Road.

• Aug. 24. Johnny Matthew Cox Jr., of Moultrie, surrendered to authorities in connection with a fight two days earlier in rural Brooks County in which another man was stabbed with a beer bottle.

• Aug. 30. Johnny Chester, 37, of Moultrie, was seriously wounded by gunfire at Forest Creek Apartments on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.

• Sept. 2. Kenny Lawton reported a man with a gun stole his wallet. When the gunman fled, Lawton followed and the robber fired at him but missed.

• Sept. 14. Gloria Jean Clay Jones, of Doerun, was stabbed in the leg, allegedly by her housemate. Willie Roy Jones was charged with aggravated assault.

• Sept. 22. Emy Gilbert reported a woman stabbed him in the back while he was walking on Third Avenue Northwest.

• Oct. 14. Timothy Summerlin reported he was beaten and robbed at a house on Indian Lake Drive.

• Oct. 19. Waylon Selph told a deputy that two men who gave him a ride robbed and beat him.

• Dec. 16. A Moultrie police officer found Antonie Stewart lying on the ground near Luke Strong and Son Mortuary on First Street Northeast. He’d been shot in the leg, and he said it had happened while he was walking on Third Street at Fifth Avenue Northwest.