DOUGLAS COUNTY, Ga. — A mother is furious after she says deputies released the driver of a car that had her deceased son inside.
The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office says they released the driver because he was cooperative and after consulting with the District Attorney’s Office.
Kenya Mitchell, the victim’s mother, is angry her son is gone, and the driver is still walking the streets.
“And I need answers now,” she told Channel 2’s Tom Jones through tears. “How do you get to go home.”
Deputies say they found 21-year-old Malachi Mitchell’s body during a traffic stop.
“And what country do you live in where you can be reckless driving and running through a red light with a dead body and not see one bit of no jail?” Mitchell asked.
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Deputies told Jones it was Jan. 29 when they stopped a driver for traffic violations near the Home Depot on Thornton Road near I-20. But this was no ordinary traffic stop.
“They discovered a deceased passenger inside of the car,” Lt. Colonel T. Pounds said.
Deputies say they took the driver in for questioning then let him go with no charges.
“Why wasn’t he arrested?” Jones asked Pounds.
“He was released pending the outcome of the ongoing investigation,” Pounds said.
Pounds said the driver was cooperative and after consulting with the D.A.‘s office, they released him.
Mitchell said that makes no sense. She said the driver passed a fire department, a hospital and a police station and didn’t try to let anyone know what happened.
She said whatever statement he gave was self-serving.
“And I need to see what proof you have to let this man walk. After he told you he shot Malachi Mitchell,” the mother said.
Jones reached out to the district attorney’s office, but she had no comment.
Some in the community wonder why the driver wasn’t held for at least concealing a death.
The sheriff’s office said, once again, this is all under investigation and they wouldn’t say if the driver confessed.
The sheriff’s office did say the driver’s family has received death threats, and his office has stepped up patrol and surveillance where they live.
The civil rights organization New Order plans to hold a news conference outside the sheriff’s office Tuesday to address the incident.
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