Former DeKalb cop indicted
in ’06 shooting
Defendant’s attorney: He’s innocent, we’ll seek change of venue
by Andy Phelan
andy@dekalbchamp.com
DeKalb County District Attorney Gwen Keyes Fleming. |
A former DeKalb County Police officer was indicted July 17 on felony murder charges for his part in the 2006 shooting death of an unarmed man.
Officer Torrey Thompson, 31, will now stand trial for the murder of Lorenzo Matthews after a county grand jury indicted him, said District Attorney Gwen Keyes Fleming’s spokeswoman Jada Hudspeth.
He could face a life sentence if found guilty of all charges.
Thompson, who also faces lesser charges of voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault and violation of oath, is the only officer to be criminally prosecuted related to a spate of police-related shootings in 2006.
Thompson appeared at a news conference briefly after posting $100,000 bond at the DeKalb County Jail.
Thompson’s attorney Bill Atkins, who indicated he might seek a change of venue because of unfavorable media coverage, said his client is innocent.
“I am 100 percent confident when an ordinary jury of 12 citizens review all the evidence – something no jury has yet done – Mr. Thompson will be exonerated,” Atkins said. “This is a good man. I am not going to allow a man like Torrey Thompson to be the fall guy.”
On the change of venue, Atkins said the media coverage has been “slanted in favor of the state and the [shooting] victim’s family.”
According to a special grand jury report of the 2006 shootings released in March, on Sept. 12, 2006, Thompson, along with at least three other officers, were pursuing Matthews at a Stone Mountain apartment complex.
Matthews was wanted at the time on hit-and-run and weapons charges.
Able to elude the other officers, Matthews escaped an apartment and made it to the edge of a wooded area, the report said, but with Thompson in quick pursuit.
That’s when Matthews turned to look at Thompson, who fired four rounds at the suspect, the report said. Once in the woods, Thompson fired another four rounds at Matthews.
Although Matthews jumped a fence and appeared to get away, a police dog later found Matthews dead from gunshot wounds behind a strip mall on Memorial Drive. Nearby, a black cell phone case was found lying on the ground.
The DeKalb County Police Review Board determined Thompson violated department policy by using deadly force on a man who appeared to be running away.
All accounts show that Matthews was ordered repeatedly to stop by Thompson and others but continued to run from the officers.
Thompson had until recently been working for the Barrow County Sheriff’s Department in the aftermath of the 2006 DeKalb incident, but must now put his life on hold. A former Marine and special security officer in Cyprus and Peru, Thompson has had a clean record before and after the 2006 incident, said Atkins.
“He has an impeccable record,” he said.
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