Vol. 79/No. 21 June 8, 2015
“I want the immediate arrest of Luther Lewis for the murder of my son,” Waiters told the council. “I want the resignation of Chief of Police Charles Odom and I want a full federal investigation.”
Ariston Waiters had run away after cops responded to reports of teenagers fighting. Lewis, who is Caucasian, ran after him. He claimed the unarmed 19-year-old African-American attempted to grab his weapon while being handcuffed on the ground.
Union City Police Officer Chris McElroy, Lewis’ supervisor, recently told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and WSB-TV that Lewis initially told him a different story: that he shot the teen because he could not see Waiters’ hands and was worried he might be concealing a gun. McElroy said Odom had instructed him not to write a statement and that the chief boasted about helping Lewis stay out of jail.
The shooting has “not sat right with me from the first time I arrived on the scene,” McElroy said. “I think Mr. Waiters died senselessly and his family deserves some closure.”
In addition, the police department’s claim that Waiters’ DNA was found on Lewis’ gun is not accurate, the two media outlets reported. They also reported on fellow officers questioning Lewis’ actions in other incidents that had not been previously disclosed.
A Fulton County grand jury decided in May 2012 not to indict Lewis and the U.S. Justice Department failed to press charges. As a result of the new evidence and continuing protests the case has been reopened by the Fulton County District Attorney working with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
“This was a death that never should have happened,” Freda Waiters said. “The way his murder was covered, like he was just an animal on the street, that’s not acceptable in this world.”
“No mother should ever have to lose her child to something like this,” she told supporters on the City Council steps after the meeting.
Related articles:
‘Since cops killed my son, I’ve been fighting’
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