Fulton County forms new human trafficking task force

ATLANTA — For months Nykeaira Nichols said she fought to come home, after being kidnapped at just 13 years old and forced into human trafficking.

“He whipped me and tied me to the bed,” Nichols said.

Now 20 years old, she says in 2018, then 26-year-old Erice Dobynes befriended her, offering Nichols a phone charger after she was locked out of her home.

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Police reports said it turns out, Dobynes was a member of the “Crips” gang.

He was 26 years old in 2018 and lived with his mother, Tonji Gray in Southwest Atlanta.

That’s where Winfrey said he kept the girl locked up with the help of his mother and his girlfriend, Danita Barber.

“He imprisoned her, he beat her, he raped her, and he sold her to others for money,” Assistant District Attorney Earnelle Winfrey said.

At times, the beatings were so intense they left cuts on Nichols’s back.

Prosecutors said Dobynes would take her out to sell her to men who wanted to have sex with her at spots like the Metropolitan Library.

Nicholas and other sex trafficking victims shared their stories with nearly 50 law enforcement officers from across Fulton County, who met with the DA’s office to discuss plans to form a human trafficking task force.

Prosecutors say these crimes are outpacing investigations and prosecutions.

Fulton County Assistant District Attorney Earnelle Winfrey said the task force will serve as ground zero for all human trafficking cases in Fulton County by allowing multiple jurisdictions to utilize their resources to solve cases quicker.

“We got to wisen up and be more strategic about these cases,” Winfrey said.

District Attorney Fani Willis said this task force will also educate law enforcement on signs of human trafficking.

And rather than arresting victims of this crime, law enforcement should go after the traffickers.

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“This is not the old-fashioned human trafficking, people are going to be bought and sold on the internet,” Willis said.

Prosecutors say the primary tool traffickers are using is social media.

Law enforcement agencies will have until November 8 to send the DA’s office confirmation that they’ll be participating in this task force.

To report suspected human trafficking in Georgia, call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 888-373-7888 or the Georgia statewide 24-hour Human Trafficking Hotline at (866) 363-4842.

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