Idexx Laboratories Inc. Chairman, President and CEO Jonathan Ayers is on a medical leave of absence following a serious cycling accident that occurred Thursday. 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. Abigail Ayers' civil suit also alleges prior disciplinary problems with both officers Oxner and Harrison, including alleged drug use. Ayers was 29. 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. He said the official explanation of what happened "flew in the face of credulity.". The police found no illicit drugs in his car, and there was no trace of any illegal substance in his body. | Up until that moment, Ayers was known to most as a man devoted to his family and faith. The Department of Homeland Security Turns 20. And he continues to get anonymous messages, including the Christmas card depicting Hell. It was refreshing to hear an attorney general make those statements; also encouraging is a recent Rasmussen poll finding that 82% of Americans see the war on drugs as a failure. | By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism. They are no better than a domestic terrorist, because they dont care about families they didnt care about the family, the children living in that household to be selling dope out of it, to be selling methamphetamine out of it. Several people working at the hospital told GBI investigators that Ayers told them he didn't know who shot him. @w_katz1 Anyway, they do indeed go on and on. On the day Ayers was killed, Harrison had yet to take a series of firearms training classes required for his certification as a police officer. 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. 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. Its also a bit much to call Thonetheva a terrorist shortly after his own officers have just burned a baby. Friends said Ayers had been ministering to the woman trying to convince her to get off drugs. Smith, Junnier and Tesler faced a variety of charges from both the federal government and the state of Georgia. WebJonathan Ayers We found 100+ records for Jonathan Ayers in MD, WV and 32 other states. But the conduct of three Atlanta police officers in the killing of 92-year-old Kathryn Johnston was so unscrupulous that all three faced criminal charges. Review & Giveaway: What Do We Do When Nobody is Listening? Stroberg has been critical of how the case was presented to the grand jury. Grand jury clears officers in minister shooting, Officials claim law enforcement fatally shot pastor after he drove car in threatening way, SPONSORED: How to start a hiking, backpacking habit in 2022. Your email address will not be published. ------------------------------------------. Harrison was serving on the Mountain Judicial Circuit Narcotics Criminal Investigation and Suppression Team. I can't get into that, but that's what we're looking at.". This would have been a grossly disproportionate way for these cops to have approached Barrett, their actual suspect, much less a guy they sought to question only about the 10 minutes he'd just spent in the car with her. At the heart of this outrage, though, once again, is our increasingly demented, hysterical, all-too-literal drug war. The Narks are murderers for shooting an innocent preacher, You trying to justify it only shows how weak some Georgia citizens are. Ayers, attempting to leave the scene, was shot by Harrison. Ayers, who obviously thought they were gang members or carjackers, tried to escape but was shot and killed. "And later he ran off the road. Another then opened fire, The police-involved shooting At an inquest, a predominantly white jury decided that the shooting was accidental and that Baggett should not be charged with anything. Still, local law enforcement officials tried to smear him. We hope you will! The police claimed they announced themselves, but it isn't difficult to see how Ayersor anyone elsemight have been confused in the commotion. 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. They were in plain clothes. 3.23.2010 7:00 AM. Smith and Junnier both pled guilty to charges of voluntary manslaughter; Smith also pled guilty to perjury and admitted he planted the marijuana in Johnstons house. They first said he was part of their drug investigation all along, then retracted. One other law enforcement official was fired for lying about the training. Authorities have identified a man accused of standing on Interstate 71 northbound and shooting at vehicles Friday morning near the Gemini Place interchange. WebAyers, attempting to leave the scene, was shot by Harrison. And even today, police acknowledge he was not using or trafficking in illicit drugs. In the end, the jury decided the shooting was justified. * Cpl. 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. The war on drugs is not only fought aggressively, it is fought carelessly and haphazardly, and a long list of innocent victims have been killed or maimed in the process. Hours before Ayers was killed, police say Johanna Barrett sold undercover officer Chance Oxner $50 worth of crack cocaine. Harrison was ordered to post a $2.9 million bond while his attorneys appeal this most recent judgment. The officers saw the woman in a car with Ayers and saw what they believed was a drug transaction, Bankhead said. Same illogical cowardice outlawing hemp candy or shooting Joe Lancaster Terms Of Use, praised the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Rumors continue to feed the fire. "People are so ramped up and emotional," Mike Ayers of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation told the AJC. Required fields are marked *. A jury awarded Abigail Ayers $2.3 million, but a judge reduced the amount to $1.64 million after reassessing lost wages. "The community reaction has been mostly negative," said the Rev. A total of 30 bullets were fired, and Navarro was shot 12 times. Previous story (with links to earlier coverage), Widow files lawsuit in police shooting of slain Baptist pastor, Review: Second Thoughts About the Second Coming, West Virginia GOP Majority House OKs Religious Freedom Bill, 30 Years Later, Waco Siege Still Resonates Especially Among Anti-Government Extremists. The woman was later identified as someone Ayers had been ministering to, trying to convince her to get off of drugs and turn her life around. 3.1.2023 8:00 AM, J.D. WebLOGAN A 29-year-old Ogden man has been arrested for allegedly shooting at a group of teenagers in Providence Canyon. No one was disciplined for the actual killing of Ayers. Back in the 1980s, Beltrn had lived next door to the Paz familyand at one point, they agreed to let Beltrn receive mail in their home. Ayers Armed agents dressed in street clothes then rushed Ayerss car. "The unfortunate thing for me is people who claim to be forgiven by God are unwilling to forgive others," Franklin said. An 18-member grand jury in Stephens County in northeast Georgia ruled that the officer who fired two shots that fatally wounded Jonathan Ayers, pastor of Shoal Creek Baptist Church in Lavonia, Ga., was justified in using lethal force because he reasonably believed he was in physical danger. If the story ended there, it would merely be enough to boil your blood. 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. No matter what the misconduct is, the police are always exonerated., ACLU members were critical of the way the raid was handled and asserted that a no-knock raid was totally uncalled for; Mark Silverstein, legal director for the Colorado ACLU, said, If the government officials who authorized the warrant had followed the law, Ismael Mena would be alive today.. A man shot another family member, an adult, whom he mistakenly believed was a burglar, 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.. 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.. Wanis Thonetheva, thats the person I blame in all this. 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. Rickman told the AJC that calls to his office started the day after the shooting. But no good deed goes unpunished, and on March 25, 1994, Williams efforts to help a substance abuser led to his death. WebAfter Ayers tried to drive past the descending officers, Harrison shot and killed him. The most recent, entered into court records Aug. 17, asks District Judge Richard Story to grant summary judgment, a determination made by a court without a full trial. He put his car in reverse and attempted to escape. U.S. District Judge Richard Story also decreased the initial amount awarded in damages and expenses. 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. WebArmed agents dressed in street clothes then rushed Ayerss car. Ayers left behind a wife, Abigail, who at the time of his death was pregnant with her first child. Officers claimed Navarro had a gun and fired at them, but ballistics tests proved that all 30 shots were fired by the officers. Based on that finding, jurors said officers involved in the incident "would be immune from criminal prosecution" under Georgia law. 8. 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. In my post on Ayers, I noted how little professional accountability there had been for the death of Jonathan Ayers. 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