By Wainwright Jeffers - bio | email
ALBANY, GA (WALB) - The sketches are still done the old fashion way, with pencil and paper by a grandmother who has helped put hundreds of criminals behind bars.
Marla Lawson came to draw two pictures for Albany Police, and has done dozens more over the years for APD. She's been doing it since 1973.
You've probably never heard of Lawson, but chances are you've seen her sketches over the years on the news.
She works for the GBI and has sketched nearly 10,000 suspects, helping put many of them in jail.
"It actually feels good to go to court and stare across the room and know what you put on the paper help catch them. You know how bad he hurt somebody and you say yes, it took a grandmother with a pencil to catch you," said Marla Lawson, GBI Forensic Artist.
Marla says the most taxing part of her job is the travel.
She says if she didn't have to drive all across the state to work with various agencies, she would probably never retire. Lawson got a "D" in art class before.
The GBI Forensics Artist position was created just for Marla Lawson. Her daughter is also an artist and is interested in taking over when her mother retires.
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