Augusta District Attorney Jared Williams’ failures as a prosecutor are beginning to stack up like the rap sheets of the criminals he refuses to put behind bars and the results of his ineptitude are having a disastrous effect on our community.
Salena Tyler and Tyrone Scott were out on bond for the murder of their premature infant baby when Williams claimed he did not have the evidence to pursue a case even though Tyler admitted she turned off the baby’s respirator causing the death.
Now the couple’s other child, six month old Samson Scott, was found dead under suspicious circumstances. While the Division of Family and Children’s Services obviously dropped the ball in not responding to the reported squalid living conditions of the family, the decision not to prosecute this couple was WIlliams’ alone and now a second child is dead.
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Williams could have filed multiple charges against known gang member Antoine Redfield for his involvement in a 2019 double homicide, but again the District Attorney claimed lack of evidence and set Redfield free.
Mere weeks later, Redfield was charged in the killing of 8 year-old Aubrie Anthony who died in a drive-by shooting while she was playing out in her yard petting a horse.
When Williams took office, he immediately began a purge of longtime assistant prosecutors with stellar track records and replaced them with his own like minded individuals. Criminals are now beginning to realize that a crime spree will only cost them a night in jail and little else.
At the same time, Williams allowed several criminal cases to fall through the cracks by claiming a “conflict of interest” since he once represented as a defense attorney the very criminals he was elected to prosecute.
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That is why the community is hearing of shootings virtually every day, the criminals know they have the upper hand. If they are caught, they know Williams has their back and they will be out of custody and free of responsibility before The Jail Report can even post their mugshot.
Short of calling for a recall, the citizens of Richmond and Burke Counties need to demand that the District Attorney follow his oath of office and do his job.
