SALON is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as a trademark of Salon.com, LLC. And he continues to get anonymous messages, including the Christmas card depicting Hell. As he pulled out of the station, Ayers grazed Officer Oxner with his car. Those were bad. Police would later acknowledge he was not using or trafficking in illicit drugs. Narcotics officers who kill innocent people in the war on drugs often dont even face suspensions, let alone criminal charges. But the raid itself was conducted by the Habersham County Special Response Team. The raid was conducted based on bad information from an informant, but a thorough search of the house turned up no evidence of drug dealingand an autopsy showed no evidence of drugs in Menas body. Despite the fact that Harrison had killed a man suspected of no crime months earlier without having undergone lethal-force training and certification, the officer was still carrying his badge and gun up until the time of the WSBTV report. Copyright 2023 Salon.com, LLC. Jonathan Ayers, 28, was shot Sept. 1, 2009, in "They will suffer the consequences.". Police said three drug agents tried to block Ayers car after he dropped off a woman known to have been involved in illegal drug transactions. "Concerning the actions of the officers involved in the death of Jonathan Ayers on Sept. 1, 2009, we find that the use of deadly force by Agent Billy Shane Harrison was legally justified based upon his objectively reasonable belief that such use of force was necessary to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or others," a statement signed by the grand jurors read. WebCNN video shows Pastor Jonathan Ayers' final moments. Instead, Ayers had either been ministering to or having an affair with (depending on whom you believe) Johanna Kayla Jones Barrett, the actual target of the investigation. They say Ayers backed his car into one agent and another fired at him as he maneuvered his car in a threatening manner. But the conduct of three Atlanta police officers in the killing of 92-year-old Kathryn Johnston was so unscrupulous that all three faced criminal charges. The person I blame in this whole thing is the person selling the drugs, Terrell said. WebJonathan Ayers, 28-years-old, was a pastor at the Shoal Creek Baptist Church in Toccoa, Georgia. The man that Harrison, a Stephens County sheriff's deputy, killed in downtown Toccoa was Jonathan Ayers a young, popular preacher who had inadvertently stepped into an undercover drug investigation. But a lot more shooting was done by the officers: a total of 39 shots were fired, several of which hit her. Rickman was unavailable for comment Friday. Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press. He was charged with two counts of felony discharge of a firearm and seven counts of aggravated assault, all second and third-degree felonies. Three officers, all undercover, got out of the vehicle and pointed their guns at Ayers. 3.1.2023 8:00 AM, J.D. In the burned toddler raid, Terrell told the paper thatDistrict Attorney Brian Rickman had already cleared the task force of any wrongdoing. Rickman also cleared the cops in the Ayers case. Officers said they were in plain clothes but wore badges around their necks and identified themselves as police. Smith and Junnier both pled guilty to charges of voluntary manslaughter; Smith also pled guilty to perjury and admitted he planted the marijuana in Johnstons house. All rights reserved. But the task force also serves two other counties, and so is also overseen by the sheriffs of those counties. Still, many residents are unconvinced. (She had allegedly sold an undercover officer $50 worth of cocaine.) When the grand jury exonerated Harrison and Oxner on Dec. 15, the controversy flared anew. | Rodolfo Rudy Cardenas; San Jose, California, 2004. This would have been a grossly disproportionate way for these cops to have approached Barrett, their actual suspect, much less a guy they sought to question only about the 10 minutes he'd just spent in the car with her. They were in plain clothes. They are no better than a domestic terrorist, because they dont care about families they didnt care about the family, the children living in that household to be selling dope out of it, to be selling methamphetamine out of it. Privacy Policy | The Department of Homeland Security Turns 20. LOGAN A 29-year-old Ogden man has been arrested for allegedly shooting at a group of teenagers in Providence Canyon. The same Mountain Judicial Circuit Narcotics Criminal Investigation and Suppression Team involved in the death of Jonathan Ayers did conduct the alleged drug buy and investigation before last weeks raid. On one side are those who believe the district attorney, the Stephens County sheriff, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, area law enforcement and the grand jury were corrupted because they were determined to protect one of their own. These are some of the best places to take them in Hall County, Best breakfast in Hall County? 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Ayers widow believes her husband thought he was being robbed and tried to get away. Accessibility | In a split second, Ayers car is seen backing up and striking Oxner, and Harrison shoots. District Attorney Brian Rickman enlisted a special prosecutor to review the case file before turning it over to a grand jury. He said the official explanation of what happened "flew in the face of credulity.". I can't get into that, but that's what we're looking at.". WebA Stephens County grand jury decided that narcotics officers Billy Shane Harrison and Kyle Bryant were justified in shooting Jonathan Ayers, 28, pastor of Shoal Creek Baptist SWAT teams can serve a valuable function in law enforcement. But in addition to the $1.6 million, slightly more than $832,000 was awarded to the plaintiff in legal fees and expenses. U.S. District Judge Richard Story also decreased the initial amount awarded in damages and expenses. In her September interview with the North Georgian, Barrett told the paper that Ayers had been trying to help kick her drug habit, but later, while facing charges related to both the Ayers case and another incident, she told investigators that Ayers had in previous years paid her for sex. He suggested allowing a grand jury to investigate further about possible policy violations or civil liability. Harrison was ordered to post a $2.9 million bond while his attorneys appeal this most recent judgment. "Once all these facts are in public view, we feel it will be abundantly clear that there was no legal justification for the undercover drug agent to shoot and kill Jonathan Ayers in broad daylight on the streets of Toccoa, Ga.". Required fields are marked *. Learn how your comment data is processed. They said he had given her a ride to the motel where she lived, and was giving her rent money when spotted by narcotics detectives. So maybe we should take Rickmans quick assessment of this weeks raid with a grain of salt. Here's some tips, Column: Cherish your memories while you have them, Column: The journey to Athens used to be a five-hour railcar ride, Column: Buttering up guests with fresh biscuits, Local practice offers expert medical care, GoToHearing provides professional, caring service, Have guests in town? He could face up to 15 year in prison, if convicted. At an inquest, a predominantly white jury decided that the shooting was accidental and that Baggett should not be charged with anything. Though I know they can't all be good. Select the best result to find their address, phone number, relatives, and public records. Most damning: The police officer who killed Ayers wasn't even authorized to be carrying a gun or a badge. Judge Angela Fonnesbeck set bail for Barley at $5,000 and ordered him to appear again in court Wednesday morning. Not surprisingly, no drugs were found in either Ayers vehicle or on his dead body, although one of the officers claimed that before the killing, Barrett had sold him $50 worth of crack cocaine. Judge OKs $832K in legal fees in preacher shooting case, Damages awarded to widow cut to $1.6 million, SPONSORED: How to start a hiking, backpacking habit in 2022. But Ayers had no way of knowing he wasnt being attacked by carjackers or gang members; in fact, the officers who killed him went out of their way to look as thuggish and intimidating as possible. In September 2009, Johnathan Ayers, a 28-year-old Baptist pastor from Lavonia, Ga., was gunned down by a North Georgia narcotics task force in the parking lot of a gas station. Ayers, who had known Barrett for a number of years, offered her a ride back to the motel and gave her the money in his pocket, $23, to help pay her rent. 10. WebOne man is dead and a second person was sent to the hospital after a shooting in Treme on Tuesday, Oct. 12. Ayers, who obviously thought they were gang members or carjackers, tried to escape but was shot and killed. In 1999, Al Robison (president of the Drug Policy Forum of Texas), denounced the killing of Navarro as a very clear illustration of the insanity of our current drug policy. The officers who raided Navarros home violated department policy by failing to obtain a search warrant. So in other words, El Monte officers conducted a commando-style raid on the Paz home based on the fact that a drug suspect (who was out on bail and hadnt been convicted) had received some mail in their home during the previous decade. I knew then that no matter what the investigation showed, it was going to be a terrible situation, said Brian Rickman, the district attorney for the Mountain Judicial Circuit, which includes Stephens and two other counties. No illegal drugs were found in Navarros home, and blood tests conducted after his death showed no traces of any illegal drugs in his system. The defense asked for the amount to be reduced under a specific formula; Story granted the request by decreasing it to $1.6 million, as a better estimate of the income Jonathan Ayers would have been expected to receive. Claytor, whose son was a close friend of Ayers, said within hours of the shooting, law enforcement started "spinning this story" and "covering their tracks." Associated Press articles: Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. Rickman, Terrell, and the other sheriff who oversees the task force were all reelected. Ayers was shot "They approached the vehicle. The surveillance video was on the Internet within a day of the shooting, fueling speculation and half-accounts that were repeated online and in letters to area newspapers. Back in the 1980s, Beltrn had lived next door to the Paz familyand at one point, they agreed to let Beltrn receive mail in their home. It ought to cast more doubt on the already dubious notion that police shootings should only be investigated by other police officers. Mike Franklin with The Torch, the Church of God located in Demorest, Ga., knows Harrison and Oxner and also knew Ayers. | Michael Walker, the California Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement officer who fired the fatal shot, was charged with voluntary manslaughter but was acquitted by a San Jose jury in 2005. Police would later acknowledge he was not using or trafficking in illicit drugs. The two said they thought the driver of the burgundy Honda may have been her drug source. WebIn February, I posted about a settlement in the death of Jonathan Ayers, an innocent pastor that this same drug task force killed in a drug operation in 2009. Want to share a story? An undercover drug task force team had set up an operation at a local business, and had a woman under surveillance -- someone they had bought drugs from on two previous occasions, GBI spokesman John Bankhead told CNN Thursday. Williams suffered a heart attack and died. Parlez-en ! One other law enforcement official was fired for lying about the training. Ayers then pulled into a nearby gas station to withdraw money from an ATM. WebAfter Ayers tried to drive past the descending officers, Harrison shot and killed him. According to a 1,100-page Georgia Bureau of Investigation report made public after the Dec. 15-18 grand jury probe, undercover officers were in the process of purchasing crack cocaine from a known drug user in hopes of identifying her supplier. But the kicker has to be that the subsequent police-led investigations of this high-profile case failed to turn up such a critical piece of information. The initial civil complaint also states Harrison had not met the training requirements necessary to act as a peace officer, and was not acting in his scope of authority on the date of the shooting. Authorities have identified a man accused of standing on Interstate 71 northbound and shooting at vehicles Friday morning near the Gemini Place interchange. According to Ayerss lawsuit, the woman was about to be evicted from the motel at which she was staying. Ayers continued to drive, fleeing the parking lot for about a thousand yards before eventually crashing his car. The wasteful use of public resources to pursue a petty drug offender and the aggressive and short-sighted apprehension of Jonathan Ayers that led to his death are bad enough. But in the case of 57-year-old Harlem resident Alberta Spruill, New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg admitted: Clearly, the police made a mistake.. Web0:15. On the other side are those who say Harrison and fellow deputy Chance Oxner did the best they could with the information they had when they tried to stop Ayers from driving away. So did the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Jonathan Ayers, Rodolfo Rudy Cardenas, Alberta Spruill, Mario Paz, Kathryn Johnston and others could have been prevented. "The video seemed to be the main catalyst for a lot of anger," Rickman said. The officers saw Cardenas and assumed he was David Gonzales, the man they were looking forand when they pointed their guns at Cardenas, he fled (first in a vehicle, then on foot) but was shot in the back and killed. According to a report of the proceedings on Rickman's website, the Stephens County district attorney, whose office overseas the drug task force, explained to grand jurors his consideration of legal and ethical obligations to remain the chief prosecuting officer in the case, including consultation with members of Ayers' family. Ayers widow, Abby Ayers, lives in Gainesville and has retained a local attorney in the case. He died at the hospital. Webofficial athlete of dream different sports and life & basketball brand Report this post Shooting And even today, police acknowledge he was not using or trafficking in illicit drugs. 5. This article was published more than8 years ago, (CORRECTION: The copy below is slightly incorrect. A lawyer representing Ayers' widow told the Toccoa Record he was disappointed by the grand jury's decision and that a civil lawsuit would follow. He said the panel that convened this week was charged with deciding only whether the case should go to a separate grand jury for possible criminal prosecution. Harrison said he is expecting a lawsuit. 3.1.2023 12:01 AM, 2022 Reason Foundation | WebA federal jury awarded more than $2.3 million Thursday afternoon to the family of a Toccoa pastor shot and killed by a sheriffs deputy. The leader of veterinary diagnostics company IDEXX is out of commission because of a serious bicycle crash. | The Rev. At the heart of this outrage, though, once again, is our increasingly demented, hysterical, all-too-literal drug war. On November 21, 2006, plainclothes officers Jason R. Smith, Gregg Junnier and Arthur Tesler carried out a no-knock drug raid on Johnstons Atlanta home based on bad information from an informant/marijuana dealer named Alex White. A Stephens County grand jury had cleared the agents of criminal wrongdoing shortly after the incident. The badges they had hanging from their necks, seen in this photo, were far from conspicuous. Wanis Thonetheva, thats the person I blame in all this. But this same task force has a history. When they approached to question him, Ayers reportedly tried to flee and his car struck one of the officers. No one was disciplined for the actual killing of Ayers. 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