Six current and former Fulton County deputies are under indictment in the 2018 death of an inmate. | Adobe Stock
Six current and former Fulton County deputies are under indictment in the 2018 death of an inmate. | Adobe Stock
Six Fulton County jailers pleaded not guilty to felony murder charges this month in the 2018 death of inmate Antonio May, FOX 5 reported.
May, 32, was arrested for criminal trespassing Sept. 11, 2018, according to his indictment, the story said.
As jail guards tried to restrain him, one of them used a stun gun and pepper spray, then put the inmate in a shower for decontamination, the station said, citing a report from the Fulton County Medical Examiner. May tested positive for the drug ecstasy, the medical examiner's report found, according to FOX 5.
There were no charges in the death for three years until Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis decided to take the case to a grand jury, the station reported.
"As I promised the people of Fulton County, my staff and I are working through the backlog of cases left by my predecessor involving use of force by law enforcement officers," Willis said in a statement. "We presented the results of our investigation of the 2018 death of Antonio May to a Fulton County grand jury, and the grand jury returned an indictment against three current and three former sheriff’s deputies for felony murder, aggravated assault, battery and violation of oath of office."
Three of the defendants, Arron Cook, Guito Dela Cruz and Omar Jackson, appeared before a judge to enter not-guilty pleas while three others, Kenesia Strowder, William Whitaker and Jason Roache, entered pleas but waived their arraignments, FOX 5 said.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Paige Reese Whitaker said she would recuse herself from the case, the story said.
"Because these are all Fulton County deputies and the deputies are the ones who protect the courtrooms, and protect the courthouse, and transport people from the jail," said attorney Kimani King, who represents one of the deputies, told the station. "I understand the potential conflict there, because there are people that she has dealt with, there are supervisors that she is fond of, people that she has had relationships with during her career in Fulton County."
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