Jonathan Ayers, a 28-year-old Baptist minister from northern Georgia. Same illogical cowardice outlawing hemp candy or shooting 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. But no good deed goes unpunished, and on March 25, 1994, Williams efforts to help a substance abuser led to his death. Ayers, attempting to leave the scene, was shot by Harrison. Hours before Ayers was killed, police say Johanna Barrett sold undercover officer Chance Oxner $50 worth of crack cocaine. Last September, Ayers, a 28-year-old Baptist pastor from Lavonia, Georgia, was gunned down by a North Georgia narcotics task force in the parking lot of a gas station. Another then opened fire, Find Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and TikTok profiles, images and more on IDCrawl - free people search website. Gwinnett Countys district attorney and a retired DA were asked to review the case. Hall school board approves $11M for giant classroom touchscreens. In the burned toddler raid, Terrell told the paper thatDistrict Attorney Brian Rickman had already cleared the task force of any wrongdoing. Apologists for the killing claimed that Mena (a Mexican immigrant) had a gun, and LeRoy Lemos (a community activist) responded: If police hadn't gotten the wrong house, Mena would be alive. ", The incident was caught on the gas station's surveillance camera. The police found no illicit drugs in his car, and there was no trace of any illegal substance in his body. (WVUE/Raycom) NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - A man that was killed in the Ayers likely had his windows up and his air conditioning on. 1, 2019 at 5:28 PM EDT. Her lawsuit claims that the officers decision to wait until he returned to his car and then - in video captured on a surveillance camera - speed to a stop beside him and jump out of a black SUV wearing plain clothes with weapons drawn would cause a reasonable person to assume they were not police but criminals. Ayers, who obviously thought they were gang members or carjackers, tried to escape but was shot and killed. Pedro Oregon Navarro; Houston, Texas, 1998. LOGAN A 29-year-old Ogden man has been arrested for allegedly shooting at a group of teenagers in Providence Canyon. The officers were undercover, dressed in shabby clothes and ski-mask caps. CNN's Carolina Sanchez contributed to this report. By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism. Though I know they can't all be good. WebLooking for Jonathan Ayers online? Some contend Ayers was running because he didn't want the police to expose a secret part of his life: Barrett told investigators that she and Ayers had been having an affair for years. Smith, Junnier and Tesler faced a variety of charges from both the federal government and the state of Georgia. Stephens County District Attorney Brian Rickman and Assistant District Attorney Rick Bridgeman presented the case. Undercover narcotics officers who had been trailing Barrett suspected that she was selling crack cocaine, and when Ayers gave her $23, they began trailing Ayers. His wife was expecting their first child. OnJuly 12, 1998, Houston officers raided Navarroshome based on an alleged drug users claim that drugs were being sold there. 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. The decision to raid the Paz home, according to Ankeny, was made after narcotics officers found some bills and Department of Motor Vehicle records containing the familys address among the possessions of a drug suspect named Marcos Beltrn. The Rev. 3.1.2023 12:30 AM, Jacob Sullum 3.1.2023 7:00 AM, Charles Oliver Police said they later observed a white male in a red Honda Civic give the woman money. He died at the hospital. TOCCOA, Ga. (ABP) A grand jury has cleared police officers involved in a Sept. 1 shooting that killed a Southern Baptist pastor caught in the middle of a botched drug sting. They followed the car as Ayers dropped the woman off at a gas station. Its also a bit much to call Thonetheva a terrorist shortly after his own officers have just burned a baby. It was WWII. 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. Jonathan Ayers, pastor at Shoal Creek Baptist Church in Lavonia, Georgia, died after the incident Tuesday afternoon in the nearby town of Toccoa, Georgia, police said. Jonathan Ayers was a pastor at the Shoal Creek Baptist Church. Stan Turpin of Clarksville, about 15 miles from Toccoa, is another outspoken critic of the investigation. 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 Defense attorney Shannon Demler said his client was trying to protect himself. Mellontree, in a 1992 interview, told the New York Times: People cant accept the idea that a 84-year-old grandmother gets shot in her bed, and its not even worth a negligence charge.. Spotting the vehicle parked outside a gas station and recognizing Ayers as the man they had seen earlier, officers rushed to question him, blocking him in as he started to back out of a parking space. Ayers had not been a suspect in any drug investigation. 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 grand jury on Friday found that an officer-involved shooting in which a Lavonia minister was killed was justified. Drug Team involved in the September 2009 incident at a Toccoa gas station in which the Rev. 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. If the story ended there, it would merely be enough to boil your blood. Reproduction of material from any Salon pages without written permission is strictly prohibited. Ayers lawyers declined to comment; a call to a lawyer representing Harrison was not returned. No drugs were found in her house. "Dear Billy Shane," was written inside the card. In a letter to Rickman, Gwinnett County District Attorney Daniel Porter said the officers had "sufficient articulable suspicion" to question Ayers and that no criminal charges were warranted. 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. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Ayers told hospital staff was that he thought he was being robbed. "You may escape justice in this life but you will never escape the final judgment and eternal damnation for your actions! The grand jury hearing was the most one-sided miscarriage of justice that I have ever heard of. Rickman told the AJC that calls to his office started the day after the shooting. "The video seemed to be the main catalyst for a lot of anger," Rickman said. (She had allegedly sold an undercover officer $50 worth of cocaine.) The black-and-white video shows a dark Escalade pulling past some gas pumps and two men getting out. The Jonathan Ayers story was already outrageous enough. 1. At the heart of this outrage, though, once again, is our increasingly demented, hysterical, all-too-literal drug war. WebLast September, Ayers, a 28-year-old Baptist pastor from Lavonia, Georgia, was gunned down by a North Georgia narcotics task force in the parking lot of a gas station. He shot the 28-year-old Ayers in the parking lot of a Toccoa convenience store when the victim accidentally walked into an undercover drug investigation. Neither the family or Mrs. Ayers have embraced any of this, attorney Richard Hendrix said. Franklin said in an interview with the AJC. Harrison said he initially thought his partner was seriously injured or dead and he thought the car was going to hit him, too. WebAyers, attempting to leave the scene, was shot by Harrison. Officers said they were in plain clothes but wore badges around their necks and identified themselves as police. 3.1.2023 4:00 AM, John Stossel Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. He died four hours later at the local hospital of his gunshot wound. "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.". Ayers continued to drive, fleeing the parking lot for about a thousand yards before eventually crashing his car. Below are 10 innocent victims who became collateral damage and lost their lives in the war on drugs (there are many, many more). Individuals arrested and charged in complaints are presumed innocent unless or until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in court. I can't get into that, but that's what we're looking at.". And he continues to get anonymous messages, including the Christmas card depicting Hell. 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. In Denver, one such person was 45-year-old Ismael Mena, who was shot and killed by a SWAT team during a no-knock raid on September 29, 1999. 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. Shortly after he got back into his car, a black Escalade tore into the parking lot. U.S. District Judge Richard Story also decreased the initial amount awarded in damages and expenses. Judge Angela Fonnesbeck set bail for Barley at $5,000 and ordered him to appear again in court Wednesday morning. Tuccille Friends said Ayers had been ministering to the woman trying to convince her to get off drugs. 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. The GBI was called in. For three days in December, a grand jury was presented with the interviews and watched the video. One of the people he had been helping was a woman who had a history of problems. 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. Bob Allen is managing editor of Associated Baptist Press. As he pulled out of the station, Ayers grazed Officer Oxner with his car. And not too many cases were it's obvious the shooting was bad or even unnecessary. But in the drug war, the combination of SWAT teams, no-knock raids and sloppy police work can have deadly consequences for innocent people. They also are pleading official immunity that allows police to decide where to investigate, arrest or use force, including deadly force, in carrying out their duties. 3. But that's really only the beginning of this mess. 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. 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? When Chavalia and other narcotics officers raided the house where Wilson was living, Terry was nowhere to be found. WebThe shooting in a convenience store parking lot, captured on video by a surveillance camera, has been the subject of an unrelenting debate that has, at times, been ugly in this 5. Mike Ayers, who was in charge of the investigation for the GBI, is not related to Jonathan Ayers. "They approached the vehicle. Learn how your comment data is processed. He said the official explanation of what happened "flew in the face of credulity.". In 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. Harris fired twice at the fleeing vehicle, grazing Ayers on the arm and striking him in the torso. The police were trailing Barrett at the time. 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. The pastor, understandably, attempted to escape. Harrison and Oxner told investigators they saw a woman, Kayla Barrett, whom they planned to arrest later that day on drug charges get into Ayers' car and they saw him give her money. He put his car in reverse and attempted to escape. Shirley told CNN the drug task force unit comprises three Georgia counties -- Stephens, Habersham and Rabun. Jonathan Andrew Barley was booked Saturday night WebJonathan Ayers We found 100+ records for Jonathan Ayers in MD, WV and 32 other states. More astonishing, Harrison apparently had no training at all in the use of lethal force. 3.1.2023 8:00 AM, J.D. Toddler raid, Terrell told the AJC that calls to his office started the day after the shooting bad! Rewritten or redistributed Toccoa, is not related to jonathan Ayers in MD, WV and 32 states... 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