CLEVELAND, Ga. — The death of 3-year old Easton Levi Cain, and the arrest of James Holcomb, 36, a man with a long history of drug and alcohol abuse has destroyed three White County families and led to questions about a White County Commissioner.

The son of Casey and Kala Cain, Easton was a beautiful child who according to his obituary loved dinosaurs, eating oatmeal pies, riding four-wheelers and swimming in his swimming pool.

The man who took his life by striking him with a pickup truck in the parking lot of Ingles in Cleveland has been charged with vehicular homicide.

Holcomb is no stranger to law enforcement. He was arrested for DUI in 2001 when he was legally under age and again in 2002, 2008 and 2013. He was not prosecuted on the first two arrests because the District Attorney’s office allowed the statute of limitations to expire. There were other arrests. Records show that in 2003 he was arrested for DUI and marijuana possession. He received probation and community service in exchange for a guilty plea. But he failed to perform the community service.

Now, more charges have surfaced, stemming from an incident last September at a Cleveland motel where he, his wife and young son were staying. Police were called about a young child wandering alone in the parking lot. Items taken into evidence from that incident were sent to the Georgia Crime Lab for testing and, five months later, the items tested positive for methamphetamine. Now, he faces the additional charges of possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug related items.

Holcomb’s father is White County Commissioner Lyn Holcomb who has bailed his son out of jail on several occasions.

Commissioner Holcomb spoke to Fetch Your News Friday, saying, “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Cain family for their suffering. I pray that God will somehow comfort them. As for our son, we will always love him. He has tried to do better. It’s just an addiction he can’t shake.”

Holcomb said he has tried to get help for his son to break the addiction. “We’ve done everything we can do. We couldn’t have done any more.”

Holcomb said that he has never used his position as county commissioner to influence law enforcement. “Never,” he said. “That’s something I’ve never even thought about.”

Because he has missed the last two commission meetings, questions have been raised about whether or not he will resign.
Holcomb said it is something he has not considered.