Ex-Atlanta police officer, Oliver Simmonds, acquitted in deadly gas station shooting
Get personalized newsletters for any city in the world with Headline, sign up here.
A Fulton County jury has found Officer Oliver Simmonds not guilty in the deadly shooting of an alleged carjacking suspect in 2019. The verdict came down just four hours after deliberations began. Simmonds embraced his attorney and breathed a sigh of relief in response to the not guilty verdicts read in open court. Prosecutors from Fulton County alleged that Officer Oliver Simmonds, who was off-duty at the time, shot and killed 18-year-old D'Ettrick Griffin, who was pumping gas at a Shell station near the intersection of McDaniel and Whitehall streets on July 15, 2019. During the trial, fellow officers who arrived at the scene testified.
The prosecution attempted to paint Simmonds as "judge, jury, and executioner. " Police said Griffin slid into the officer's unmarked cruiser and sped away, but not before Simmonds shot the teen. His attorney, Jackie Patterson, said the officer feared for his life. "The law says if your life is in danger, and you really believe you are about to be shot or killed, you have a right to kill that person," said Patterson. Prosecutors said Simmonds lied and claimed his feet were injured.
They said Griffin was not armed and was fleeing after stealing a car. "That man was not in fear for anybody's life. He just needed to get his car back because he was em.