Killing of Julian Lewis

Killing of Julian Lewis
Date	August 7, 2020
Location	Screven County, Georgia, US
Coordinates	32°37′06″N 81°39′41″W / 32.618349°N 81.661500°W
Suspects	Jacob Gordon Thompson
Charges	Felony murder, aggravated assault

On August 7, 2020, Julian Edward Roosevelt Lewis, an unarmed 60-year-old American carpenter, was fatally shot by Georgia State Patrol officer Jacob Gordon Thompson, on a rural road in Screven County, Georgia. Thompson attempted to stop Lewis for driving a vehicle with a broken tail light. When Lewis failed to stop, Thompson performed a PIT maneuver to force Lewis's car into a ditch and shot Lewis once in the face. On August 14, Thompson was charged with felony murder.^[2]

People involved

Lewis was a 60-year-old Black semi-retired carpenter^[3]^[4]^[5] from Sylvania, Georgia.^[6]

Thompson, who is white, was 27 years old at the time of the shooting.^[3]^[4]^[5]^[1] He joined the Georgia State Police on July 28, 2013.^[5]

Traffic stop

According to a Georgia State Patrol (GSP) report, around 9 p.m. on Friday, August 7, 2020, Thompson attempted to stop Lewis's Nissan Sentra for a broken taillight on Stoney Pond Road near Sylvania, Georgia, in a rural part of Screven County about 60 miles northwest of Savannah.^[3]^[4]^[5]^[1] According to a Lewis family attorney, Lewis had gone to a convenience store to buy a grape soda for his wife and was on his way home at the time.^[1] Lewis did not stop and Thompson briefly chased Lewis down several rural roads.^[3]^[4]^[5]^[1] Thompson forced Lewis's car to stop in a ditch^[3]^[1] using a "precision intervention technique" or "PIT maneuver".^[4]^[5]

According to Thompson's report of the incident, after Lewis's vehicle stopped, Thompson pulled up alongside and drew his handgun as he exited.^[5]^[1] Lewis revved his car's engine and Thompson activated the light on his gun.^[5] Thompson saw Lewis with both hands on the steering wheel,^[1] "wrenching the steering wheel in an aggressive back-and-forth manner towards me and my patrol vehicle."^[5] Thompson wrote that Lewis "was trying to use his vehicle to injure me" and that, "Being in fear for my life and safety, I discharged my weapon once."^[5] According to prosecutors, Thompson fired one shot "at some point", striking Lewis in the face and killing him.^[3]^[4] According to an attorney for Lewis's family, Thompson shot Lewis "almost immediately" after the PIT maneuver.^[3]

Thompson reported that he unsuccessfully tried to help Lewis after shooting him.^[5] Lewis was pronounced dead at the scene.^[4]^[1] Thompson was not injured.^[3]

According to their attorney, Lewis's family did not learn about his whereabouts or death until around 1 a.m. the next day.^[1]

Prosecution

Thompson was fired, arrested, and charged with felony murder and aggravated assault on August 14, 2020.^[3]^[4]^[5]^[1] He was booked into Screven County Jail.^[4]

An autopsy of Lewis's body is being conducted by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.^[4]

The case went to a grand jury and on June 28, 2021, the case was judged a “no bill” and all charges against Thompson were dropped.^[7]^[8]^[9]^[10]^[11]

Impact

A candlelight vigil was held for Lewis on August 14 in front of Sylvania City Hall^[4]^[5] with funeral services held the following day.^[1]

According to the Associated Press, Thompson "was charged amid a national outcry over racial injustice" after the recent murders of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery, and the killing of Rayshard Brooks at the hands of police.^[3] Lewis's family attorney described the decision to fire and arrest Thompson only a week after Lewis's death as a surprise, which he believed was a direct result of protests surrounding the police murder of Floyd and killing of Breonna Taylor earlier in 2020.^[1] The Georgia NAACP described the killing as "a case of racial profiling".^[3]

The State of Georgia paid $4.8 million dollars to the widow and survivors of Mr. Lewis to resolve the civil rights claims. The settlement is the largest civil rights settlement paid by the State of Georgia.^{[citation needed]} The Atlanta, Georgia law firm Hall & Lampros, LLP represented Mr. Lewis's family.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m Holli Deal, Saxon (August 25, 2020). "GBI: Video disputes former trooper's account in fatal shooting". Statesboro Herald. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
^ "Georgia trooper charged with murder in traffic stop shooting - The Washington Post". The Washington Post. August 14, 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k Bynum, Russ (August 14, 2020). "Georgia trooper charged with murder in traffic stop shooting". Associated Press. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k Elassar, Alaa; Silverman, Hollie (August 15, 2020). "Georgia State Patrol trooper charged with murder after shooting a Black man". CNN. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m Autry, Enoch (August 15, 2020). "Georgia trooper charged with murder in shooting of Black man. 'He was a kind soul,' widow says at vigil". USA Today. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
^ Waller, Allyson (August 15, 2020). "Georgia Trooper Is Charged in Fatal Shooting of Black Driver". The New York Times. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
^ "Screven grand jury recommends no charge against ex-trooper Thompson in Lewis' death". Statesboro Herald. June 28, 2021.
^ "Lawsuit Filed Against Screven County, Sheriff Mike Kile Over Alleged Open Records Act Violations". The Georgia Virtue. November 16, 2021.
^ Stevens, Alexis (September 13, 2021). "Son of man killed by Georgia trooper wants feds involved, plans 63-mile march". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
^ "Family of man shot by trooper demands federal intervention, release of dashcam video after no indictment". WJCL. July 16, 2021.
^ "With no new grand jury and no federal charge, case of former trooper closed".