This is a story I have followed for several months and wrote about on another site as well. The original post has been kept mostly in it’s entirety and my updates are at the end. Some of the information may have been updated as well that I am not aware of.
A multi-jurisdictional drug task force set up a sting to take place back at the beginning of September in Toccoa and a pastor from the area was inadvertently shot and killed. 29-year-old Jonathan Paul Ayers wasn’t a target in the drug sting and was not connected at all but a passenger riding in his car was.
Ayers dropped off 26-year-old Kala Jones Barrett in downtown Toccoa around 2:30 that afternoon and two agents from the task force which was made up of officers from Stephens, Habersham and Rabun counties followed Ayers and attempted to question him.
Ayers tried to avoid the officers, striking one of them with his car after putting it in reverse. The officers yelled (according to witnesses as well as their statements) "Police, Stop!". Ayers car lurched toward the law enforcement officers in a "threatening manner and one of the three agents fired a two shots which struck Ayers in the upper body. He drove off but ended up hitting a telephone pole about a block away. The pastor died at Stephens County Hospital in Toccoa.
The agent struck by Ayer’s vehicle was treated and released from the hospital and all of the agents involved were placed on administrative leave pending an investigation.
Ayers lived in Lavonia and was a pastor at Shoal Creek Baptist Church in Lavonia. His family said that he was in no way involved in drugs and police did not find any drugs in his possession or in his vehicle.
Kala Barrett, the woman who was the intended target of the sting, was arrested and charged with selling cocaine.
A press conference was held early on concerning the shooting and Law Enforcement again said that there is no connection between Ayers and drugs. The GBI spokesman did, however, say the following; "It was thought to be the case when it led up to what happened. We later found out there was another circumstance that we cannot get into that led to the incident, not drugs."
The family of Jonathan Ayers also released a statement. The following is from WNEG. Check out their site for more information.
A spokesperson for the Floyd-Ayers family issued the following statement [...]:
"Jonathan was a good man. He was not involved in drugs. He would help anyone that needed help, give them the shirt off his back. Jonathan would have wanted to witness to the police officers involved in the shooting.
He was so excited about becoming a father and was loved by his family, friends and members of his church."
The spokesperson told WNEG News that Jonathan Ayers was being incorrectly portrayed as a drug suspect and that he was an innocent bystander.
Prior to dying Jonathan Ayers asked paramedics who shot him according to the AJC. Ayers’ actions point to a man who was scared and trying to get out of what looked like an ugly situation. He wasn’t aware that the men were police and even though they did identify themselves, when guys are yelling at you "Stop, Police! Get the fuck out of the car now or we’ll shoot" (just an approximation, I don’t know the exact words they yelled) the only thing one might hear is "get out of the car or I’ll shoot" and that’s if he could hear anything at all with his windows up.
Does that make the police culpable for his death? Friends of Ayers certainly think so. I am on the fence on that one though. It feels like a really big mistake, misunderstanding, mis-communication (albeit one that has cost a man his life). Should police have let him drive off and follow him,perhaps endangering other folks on the road? If he saw police lights behind him he might have pulled over realizing his mistake. It’s a bit late for that though.
The question still remains though, why was the woman who has been arrested for cocaine in his car in the first place? I’m not trying to point at anything here, I just really want to know.
Apparently, at least according to Kala Barrett, the two of them had been having monthly sex since they met in a bar in 2005 even though Ayers was married. His cell phone records certainly indicate he spoke with her a bit more than a concerned pastor might. He called her more than 20 times over four hours the day he was killed. He also gave her $50 the same day.
The officers involved were cleared of any wrongdoing in the matter.
