DECATUR - The family of a man fatally shot by a police officer outside the metro Atlanta tire store where he worked is questioning the way a prosecutor handled the case, an attorney said Friday.
Cobb County District Attorney Vic Reynolds should have shared evidence in the case with Nicholas Thomas' family before presenting it to a grand jury and should have notified the family before that presentation was made, attorney Mawuli Davis told reporters, offering the first comment from the family since they learned the officer wouldn't face charges.
A grand jury on Thursday found Smyrna police Sgt. Kenneth Owens was justified in shooting Thomas on March 25. Evidence showed Thomas, 23, drove a customer's Maserati toward officers who were trying to serve him with a parole violation warrant outside a Goodyear tire store, Reynolds said.
"The family feels absolutely disrespected and on many levels humiliated by the way this presentation was handled," Davis said.
After getting a call from Reynolds alerting him to the grand jury's decision around noon Thursday, Davis said he was surprised to hear later that Reynolds had scheduled a 3 p.m. meeting with reporters, during which he played surveillance video.
Reynolds was trying to control messaging, which raises questions about what happened during the grand jury proceeding, Davis said.
Police officers are authorized to shoot to protect themselves or others and that the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and Cobb County police also found the shooting was justified, Reynolds said Thursday. Spokeswoman Kim Isaza said Reynolds had no further comment Friday.
With the investigation complete, lawyers for the family will be able to request access to the investigative file and have already filed notice of their intent to sue Owens and the city of Smyrna, lawyer Robert Bozeman said.
"Mr. Reynolds, my family is not going to stop," Thomas' mother, Felicia, said Friday. "God has the last word. Not Vic Reynolds."
