Organizers demand former DA’s prosecution, justice for families

 Organizers demand former DA’s prosecution, justice for families

Lewis Levine and Patty Leon

Wearing bright red T-shirts that had the words “Jackie Johnson misdeeds,” printed on them, organizers banded together in Brunswick this past weekend demanding that state attorney Chris Carr do his job and prosecute former Glynn County District Attorney Jackie Johnson.

On Sept. 2, Carr announced the indictment of the former District Attorney on charges of Violation of Oath of Public Officer and Obstruction of a Police Officer. As alleged in the indictment, these charges are related to the investigation surrounding the shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery.

Event organizer Thea Brooks, Arbery’s aunt, said several families who feel they’ve been wronged by Johnson are uniting to get the justice they deserve.

“We want to help them get justice for their loved ones,” she said.

She said her nephew was a big factor in changing, not only their community but changing the world.

“Ahmaud has opened up doors that have been shut for us for a very long time,” Brooks said.

She pointed out that her nephew’s death caused the state to abolish the citizens arrest law and implement a state hate crime bill.

“Now we have things that have been put in place to serve families, not only like mine but so many others who are faced with injustices on a daily basis,” Brooks said.

Brooks said she will continue to advocate for families who know their cases were mishandled and something should be done.

Edward Rayner said his brother Kelsey Rayner Sr., died while he was in jail. He said his brother had been sick for several days and denied treatment by the Correctional Officers. His brother’s colon ruptured, and he laid on the ground for seven hours vomiting up blood and excrement from his mouth, yet nothing was done. His brother eventually died.

“He died from neglect,” he said. “The guards didn’t do anything to help him.”

Rayner said Johnson didn’t prosecute anyone and he said it wasn’t properly investigated.

Mike Gilder talked about his stepson Jerrod Tyre killed in 2015. He said his stepson was celebrating his birthday at his home, which sat on seven acres. Gilder said the celebration included drinking with friends and shooting guns at cans and objects for target practice. Tyre got into an argument with his girlfriend, so she left the house and called police. A 40-minute standoff ensued.

Gilder insisted his stepson never threatened the officers with his gun, never pointed the gun at anyone and said there is video proof that the officers said they didn’t feel threatened.

Gilder said officer Robert Brantley suddenly arrived on scene and was there for only two minutes when he stormed to the front of the police line and shot Tyre four times with an M-16 from eight feet away.

The family said a coroner’s inquest was conducted and the jury came back with a unanimous decision of it being unjustified homicide and excessive force but that is where the investigation stopped. He said Johnson told the media a coroner’s inquest was an antiquated form of justice and she was under no obligation to follow up on it. Gilder said nothing more was done, and Johnson pulled the plug on the entire investigation.

“We’ve waited six years and we’ve exhausted all the normal routes for us, and we just walked into a closed door every time,” Gilder said.

Brooks said some families were not able to attend the rally, but they intend to seek justice for Guy Heinze, Tony Green, CJ Proctor, John Hall, Edwardo Bowman, Katie Kettles and others.

Proctor was described by families as a hardworking father of three, who was found slumped in the driver’s seat of his car parked on a stretch of Golden Isles Parkway in 2018. He had a gunshot wound to the back of the head. The family said the DA’s office and the Glynn County Police department have notched the investigations into his death.

Heinze was sentenced to life in prison after being prosecuted for murdering his family, killing eight people. Heinze has several organizations fighting on his behalf claiming the DA and the Glynn County Police Department mishandled the case, got rid of evidence, altered evidence to single out Heinze and close the case.

Katie Kettles and her boyfriend John Hall were murdered by Kettles' ex-husband: suspended Glynn County Police Department Lt. Robert "Cory" Sasser. After killing the couple Sasser allegedly called his son and said he killed them both. He then committed suicide.

It wasn’t the first time Sasser was involved in a suspicious shooting. In 2010, Sasser was involved in a shooting while on duty killing Carolyn Small, an unarmed, 35-year-old mother. She was shot several times through the window of her car and died on scene.

Sasser and another officer were cleared of wrongdoing by the District Attorney and a civil lawsuit that was filed by her family was later dismissed.

Brooks said they’ve organized marches, prayer vigils, and speeches but now it was time to email, write and visit the attorney general and demand justice for the families.

“We’ve done all the asking that we can do,” Brooks said at the rally. “We’ve asked, we’ve prayed, we’ve cried but now we are demanding that these families receive the justice that they long for.”

Carr had said the investigations will continue. The indictment charges that Johnson violated her oath of public officer, a felony that carries 1-5 years and that she obstructed and hindered a law enforcement officer, a misdemeanor that carries up to 12 months.

Brooks said they plan to follow up on the indictment and look forward to seeing Johnson in jail for her crimes.