Augusta District Attorney Jared Williams has cleared seven deputies in 2021 death of Jermaine Jones Jr., who died amid questions from his family about police brutality.
Williams’ office hired a private medical examiner “to ensure the proper medical conclusion had been reached and to address concerns from Mr. Jones’ family about the source and nature of the injuries.”
Jones died of a delayed complications of blunt force trauma from a ground-level fall after being tasered, according to an autopsy report. The GBI initially said Jones was also tackled by another person while being shocked, and he underwent two surgeries to his head. The incident happened Oct. 11, 2021, and he died seven days later.
The GBI said determining what caused the head injuries would be hard considering the taser, the tackling and head surgeries.
Williams said th private medical examiner concurred with the findings of the GBI’s Division of Forensic Sciences.
“As a result of the investigation and expert medical opinions, the officers involved are cleared of criminal liability in the arrest and subsequent death of Jermaine Jones, Jr.,” Williams said.
The officers cleared include Richard Russell, Parker Leathers, Christopher Brown, Aaron Phillips, Leslie Gaiter, John Tarpley and Lora Hucko.
Jones struggled with multiple officers as they tried to detain him, the GBI said after the incident.
“While on the way to the Richmond County Jail, Jones experienced symptoms requiring medical treatment,” Miles said by email at the time.
Shortly after arriving at the hospital, Jones went into a coma and was later pronounced brain dead. Jones died exactly one week after the incident.
The officers reported that Jones had resisted arrest and attempted to flee before being tasered and subdued. Jones family members have been quoted in the media as saying they were allowed to view footage from two police body cameras, but maintain there are four other separate camera recordings that they have not been allowed to access.
