DeKalb district attorney recuses her office, requests independent investigation into Cop City death

Dekalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston recused her office from an investigation into a shooting that killed a protester and injured a state trooper last week.

Protesters have been occupying the forest in DeKalb County near where the Atlanta Police Foundation plans to build a training facility.

The 85-acre facility will be built on the site of the Old Atlanta Prison Farm which borders Intrenchment Creek Park. The property was a 300-acre experimental prison where inmates’ unpaid labor provided food to the nearby penitentiary and DeKalb County residents.

During a multi-agency operation by law enforcement to remove protesters from the forest, activist Manuel Teran, known by community members as Tortuguita, was killed. The incident is under investigation by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation who would typically send results to the Dekalb district attorney.

Boston said she wants to remove any potential conflict of interest into the investigation of the shooting.

“I assured the community that I was going to take a certain approach on these cases,” Boston said, "so that whatever the outcome yielded, the community could feel it was done with transparency, accountability, and fairness."

Members of the GBI were also part of the operation in the forest, but are continuing to gather evidence on the investigation.

Boston pushed back on concerns that her recusal would lead to more violence from protesters.

“Just the opposite," she said. "I hope that what this instills with protesters on the ground is that this will get a full, fair, impartial, and independent look — which I think is important for our community and everyone that is mourning."

The district attorney’s office will still prosecute the protesters arrested, including those facing domestic terrorism charges.

UPDATE: The Georgia Bureau of Investigation issued a statement about the recusal on the evening of January 25, 2023. Read it here.