A former Georgia State Patrol trooper who fatally shot a Black man over a broken tail light will remain behind bars after a judge denied his bail.
Jacob Gordon Thompson, a 27-year-old former officer charged with murder in the shooting death of Julian Edward Roosevelt Lewis, has been in custody at the Screven County Jail since his Aug. 14 arrest.
Screven County Judge F. Gates Peed ruled Friday that it “would be inappropriate” to grant Thompson bond given “the factual circumstances of the case.”
“I want justice for Julian,” Lewis’ widow, Betty, said in a statement through her lawyer. “He was too good to die as he did. This is one more step towards justice. It is more than many other families have received at this stage and so swiftly. However, it’s hard to believe in a system when you have seen it fail our community so many times.”
Around 9:20 p.m. on Aug. 7, Thompson attempted a traffic stop on a Nissan Sentra after spotting a broken tail light, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigations. The driver, later identified as 60-year-old Lewis, fled and led Thompson on a brief chase before accidentally driving into a ditch.
Thompson, who claimed he feared for his life, fired one shot into Lewis’ head.
Lewis was pronounced dead at the scene.
“No one should have to bury a loved one simply because of a busted tail light,” Rev. James Woodall, president of the Georgia NAACP, said at the time. “This was a case of racial profiling. We are not necessarily happy right now. Yes, the man was arrested, but we’re done dying.”
Thompson was charged with felony murder and aggravated assault and was fired the same day as his arrest.
“The unprecedented pace of the investigation is a direct result of years of activism on these issues along with a sea-change in law enforcement leadership at the top of the GBI,” Lewis’ family’s lawyer, Statesboro Civil Rights Attorney Francys Johnson, said in a statement Friday. “This case is not proceeding as business as usual.”
