“That’s been our concern all along that she was going to whitewash this case as a benefit to the sheriff and in derogation to Mathew’s death,” O’Mara said.
He added, “It would be nice to say every one of them should have been charged with murder, but that might be unrealistic,” O’Mara said. “But here’s my frustration: We have been kept so in the dark about the facts in the case that we really don’t know.”
Heap said in a statement that state law prevents her from discussing specifics of the case.
“In Georgia, all Grand Jury presentments are secret by statute of law. When an officer is charged with committing a crime while on duty, the law gives them the right to be present and make a statement. Other than those officers, the prosecutors and the jurors, no one is aware of what was presented during the proceedings,” she said.
The case has put an uncomfortable spotlight on St. Lawrence, the 80-year-old sheriff who has held the office since 1992. The sheriff has promised changes since Ajibade’s death. He fired the deputies deemed responsible, hired consultants to review jail operations and temporarily removed all stun guns from the jail until deputies could be re-trained in their proper use.
“I ain’t covering up for nobody. OK?” St. Lawrence told reporters at a June 4 news conference.
At the same time, the sheriff has stood up for his employees who work at the 2,300-bed jail. He said on average 41 deputies are injured each month in scuffles and fights with inmates.
The inmates are “not the nicest people in the world, a lot of them,” St. Lawrence said. “…I’m not running a summer camp here. I’m running a prison.”
The sheriff released a statement Wednesday saying he is saddened by Ajibade’s death and continues to work with Heap “to ensure justice is served.”
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