Hours before Ayers was killed, police say Johanna Barrett sold undercover officer Chance Oxner $50 worth of crack cocaine. Ayers widow, Abigail, responded with a civil lawsuit seeking damages for gross and plain incompetence by both officers and their supervisors in March 2010. That substance abuser was a police informant who gave Boston narcotics officers the address of an alleged drug dealer who lived in the same building as Williams, but a SWAT team raided the wrong apartmentWilliams apartmentand after being violently shoved onto the ground and handcuffed, the minister began to vomit. Rodolfo Rudy Cardenas; San Jose, California, 2004. "If an unmarked Escalade truck pulled up where I was and two guys dressed like drug dealers jumped out with guns drawn and approached me, I don't think I would wait around one second to find out who they were or what their motives were," one person wrote in a letter to the Toccoa Record. But the task force also serves two other counties, and so is also overseen by the sheriffs of those counties. | Parlez-en ! 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. The headline of this post has been changed to reflect the distinction.). Cardenas, clearly, found himself in the same position as Ayers: he was violently confronted by police officers he didnt know were police; he ran for his life and was shot dead. One such victim was 22-year-old Pedro Oregon Navarro. ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- A north Georgia pastor was shot to death by police when he struck an officer with his car after he was seen in a vehicle with a drug suspect, authorities told CNN. From the moment the 28-year-old Lavonia Shoal Creek Baptist Church minister was shot, the rumors began. Many African Americans in that part of Texas, including members of the local NAACP chapter and Smith County Commissioner Andrew Mellontree, were outraged that Baggett dodged both criminal and civil charges. "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. In the burned toddler raid, Terrell told the paper thatDistrict Attorney Brian Rickman had already cleared the task force of any wrongdoing. 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. 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. The woman the police were following. No one was disciplined for the actual killing of Ayers. 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. 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. 3.23.2010 7:00 AM. He put his car in reverse and attempted to escape. On August 9, 1999, 64-year-old Mario Paz was in his home in Southern California when up to 20 narcotics officers for the city of El Monte conducted a no-knock raid and used a grenade during the attack. Police later determined what they had seen was not a drug transaction, but "other circumstances were involved, and that's part of the investigation," Bankhead said. Harrison was ordered to post a $2.9 million bond while his attorneys appeal this most recent judgment. Mike Ayers, who was in charge of the investigation for the GBI, is not related to Jonathan Ayers. But Abigail Ayers' civil suit (PDF) calls that assessment into question. Ayers was shot in the liver and later died in a hospital operating room. But the raid itself was conducted by the Habersham County Special Response Team. Copyright 2023 Salon.com, LLC. Rickman, Terrell, and the other sheriff who oversees the task force were all reelected. Annie Rae Dixon, an 84-year-old African-American woman, was killed by a narcotics officer in Tyler, Texas on January 29, 1992. Had the narcotics officers who confronted Ayers been wearing uniforms that made them easily recognizable as cops, its possible that he would not have fled and would still be alive today. Review & Giveaway: What Do We Do When Nobody is Listening? 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. The two said they thought the driver of the burgundy Honda may have been her drug source. And he continues to get anonymous messages, including the Christmas card depicting Hell. Idexx Laboratories Inc. Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Ayers is taking a medical leave of absence following what the company said was a serious bicycling accident on June 27. 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. And using a SWAT team to go after a small-time drug dealer is bad police work. 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. Jonathan Andrew Barley was booked Saturday night Narcotics officers who kill innocent people in the war on drugs often dont even face suspensions, let alone criminal charges. The police claimed they announced themselves, but it isn't difficult to see how Ayersor anyone elsemight have been confused in the commotion. Heres when your childs school will get one. Police later said that was not true. Harris fired twice at the fleeing vehicle, grazing Ayers on the arm and striking him in the torso. You've just returned to your car after getting cash from an ATM. "The community reaction has been mostly negative," said the Rev. Still, many residents are unconvinced. But in addition to the $1.6 million, slightly more than $832,000 was awarded to the plaintiff in legal fees and expenses. Barley didnt speak during the brief arraignment hearing. This article originally appeared on Alternet. The police found no illicit drugs in his car, and there was no trace of any illegal substance in his body. WebArmed agents dressed in street clothes then rushed Ayerss car. 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? 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. Hall school board approves $11M for giant classroom touchscreens. In fact, the 75-year-old minister was a substance abuse counselor in Boston and had a long history of doing good work in that citys African-American community. Required fields are marked *. Worse, the man they pounced upon wasn't the target of their investigation. When they broke in, Johnston (who lived alone in a high-crime area of the city and kept a gun in her house for protection) assumed she was being the victim of a home invasion and fired a shot. The officers claim Ayers reckless driving gave them reasonable cause to believe their lives were in danger and that he was trying to avoid being questioned. Jonathan Ayers; Toccoa, Georgia, 2009. LOGAN A 29-year-old Ogden man has been arrested for allegedly shooting at a group of teenagers in Providence Canyon. 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.. "How does a young man, who does so many wonderful things, have a dark side that wound up getting him killed?" When Ayers left a gas station/convenience store after using an ATM and saw three plainclothes officers pointing their guns at him, he had no idea they were cops. 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. The 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 northeast Georgia town of 9,000. 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. The family of Jonathan Ayers has also filed a lawsuit against the police agency that killed him. Around 6:10am on May 16, 2003, officers executed a no-knock drug raid on Spruills apartment based on bad information they had received from an informant/alleged drug dealer. 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. (She had allegedly sold an undercover officer $50 worth of cocaine.) Those were bad. 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. The Cache County Deputy Attorney Tony Baird said Barley was arrested by Cache County Sheriffs deputies after he allegedly shot at the group of teenagers. 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. Ayers widow, Abby 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. Bob Claytor, pastor at Grace Baptist Church in Toccoa. They ordered him not to put the car in reverse, but Ayers did so anyway and accelerated, making contact with an officer behind the car. Shortly after he got back into his car, a black Escalade tore into the parking lot. He asked emergency personnel if he was going to make it and told his wife at the hospital to take care of herself and that he did nothing wrong. 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. She was awarded the $2.3 million in lost wages over the course of the decedents lifetime. Ayers' last words to his family and medical staff were that he thought he was being robbed. 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.. It was later revealed that Rickman had appointed the head of the task force at the time of the Ayers shooting, and was a close personal friend with the officer (who is now deceased). Web0:15. A man shot another family member, an adult, whom he mistakenly believed was a burglar, According to an interview Barrett gave to the North Georgian newspaper shortly after Ayers' death, the pastor had seen her walking near a gas station on her way back to an extended-stay motel where she was living with her boyfriend. SALON is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as a trademark of Salon.com, LLC. Ayers crashed his car, was taken to a hospital and died hours later in surgery. Harrison said he initially thought his partner was seriously injured or dead and he thought the car was going to hit him, too. I can't get into that, but that's what we're looking at.". 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. Wilson, however, was in one of the bedrooms; when Chavalia fired shots into that bedroom, she was killed. Ayers then pulled into a nearby gas station to withdraw money from an ATM. WebLOGAN A 29-year-old Ogden man has been arrested for allegedly shooting at a group of teenagers in Providence Canyon. Published: Jul. The GBI was called in. Both units serve Habersham County and are under the jurisdiction of Sheriff Joey Terrel and DA Brian Rickman. These officers jumped from an SUV waving their guns commando-style over a possible $50 drug transaction. At an inquest, a predominantly white jury decided that the shooting was accidental and that Baggett should not be charged with anything. 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. Jonathan Paul Ayers, a pastor at the small Shoal Creek Baptist Church, was shot outside a Toccoa convenience store by plainclothes drug agents on Sept. 1. An investigation revealed that after Johnstons death, a major coverup was attempted, including planting bags of marijuana in her house and trying to bully White into lying and saying that Johnston was selling crack cocaine. The complaint alleges that Officer Harrison, the cop who shot Ayers, wasn't even authorized to arrest him. All rights reserved. WebLooking for Jonathan Ayers online? Stroberg has been critical of how the case was presented to the grand jury. Perhaps we shouldnt be all that surprised that a sheriff who sees drug suspects as terrorists also oversees a drug task force that has now killed an innocent pastor and burned a two-year-old child. The Bible says an eye for an eye, one reader wrote the Toccoa Record. Dorothy Duckett, a 78-year-old neighbor, told the San Jose Mercury Newsthat when Cardenas was running away, he had his hands in the air and was yelling, Dont shoot.. CNN's Carolina Sanchez contributed to this report. 2023 Baptist News Global. 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. Stephens County District Attorney Brian Rickman and Assistant District Attorney Rick Bridgeman presented the case. The Rev. When Chavalia and other narcotics officers raided the house where Wilson was living, Terry was nowhere to be found. 6. "We are in the process of gathering all the facts surrounding this terrible incident," Stroberg said. 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. Yards down the street, Ayers car jumped a curb and hit a tree. Garcia had been in the Army since October 2002. Harrison fired shots, and one struck Ayers in the abdomen. District Attorney Brian Rickman praised the Georgia Bureau of Investigation for going to "very extraordinary lengths" to insure the investigation into the shooting was fair. Tragically, that cost Ayers his life when, on September 1, 2009, he gave a woman named Johanna Jones Barrett $23 to help her pay her rent. Best Match Powered by Whitepages Premium AGE 50s Jonathan Troy Ayers Glen Burnie, MD Aliases Jonathan Troy Ayres View Full Report Addresses Woodside Ter, Glen Burnie, MD The Narks are murderers for shooting an innocent preacher, You trying to justify it only shows how weak some Georgia citizens are. But that's really only the beginning of this mess. Another then opened fire, killing him. In a democratic republic, civilians are not executed in paramilitary-like raids based on guilt by association. 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