Three Washington County deputies were indicted Tuesday on charges of felony murder in the July Tasing death of 58-year old Eurie Martin in Deepstep.
The grand jury began listening to this case, presented by District Attorney Hayward Altman, Tuesday at 10 a.m.
Altman says they listened to hours of interviews from investigators and were presented with body camera video from the day that Mr. Martin was Tased.
Cell phone video sent to us by a viewer in July shows the moment that Deputies Michael Howell, Henry Copeland, and Rhett Scott were spotted on Deepstep Road with Mr. Martin. One of them Tases him and he falls to the ground.
Hayward says after the grand jury was presented with all the evidence they only deliberated for a few minutes before coming to a conclusion.
"The grand jury listened to the evidence, made the determination that there was probable cause for these charges to proceed forward. The system is designed in the state of Georgia at this point in time as probably the best system in the country as far as handling these type of cases. It worked as far as what the Grand jury made in determination today," says Altman.
These indictments show they’ve all been charged with 2 counts of felony murder and other charges including: involuntary manslaughter, false imprisonment, aggravated assault, simple assault, and reckless conduct.
A lawyer representing Martin’s family, Francys Johnson, said they are pleased that the three men have been indicted, and trust that the justice system will run its course.
"The family of Eurie Martin always believed that something went terribly wrong on that faithful day. Today a grand jury of citizens here in Washington County decided that a crime had been committed," says Johnson.
The deputies have been served a bench warrant and have until tomorrow morning to turn themselves in.
They will be booked into the Washington County jail and then transported to Swainsboro for their first appearance in court.