Victim of cross burning sues for $6 million in damages

RICHLAND - A black woman who used to live in Stewart County is suing a former city councilman for burning a cross in her front yard. <br> <br> LaWanda Holmes seeks $6 million in damages against former Richland city councilman Pete Cobb Senior, his nephew Kenneth Royal and a friend of Cobb&#39;s, Grady Anderson Junior. <br> <br> The three men pleaded guilty last year to criminal charges for setting the gasoline-soaked cross ablaze in February of 2000. <br> <br> Cobb was sentenced to 18 months in prison. <br> <br> Holmes claims the men conspired to run her out of the home she leased on Virginia Street because she is black. According to the suit, Holmes was the only African-American living in the neighborhood. <br> <br> Richland is about 30 miles south of Columbus.