DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A DeKalb County police officer who had charges dismissed against him earlier this year has been indicted once again.
On Tuesday, Russell Mathis, now 32, was indicted by a grand jury on charges of involuntary manslaughter and reckless conduct in the death of Marando Salmon, 37, on Nov. 4, 2022.
In April, a judge dismissed the charges against former Officer Mathis and Officer Jordan Vance.
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The District Attorney’s office says it will not pursue charges against Vance.
According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Salmon was at his home when Mathis and Vance responded to a call about a stolen car in the driveway of a home in Stone Mountain.
The officers knocked on the door. It swung open, so they walked inside, finding Salmon in the bedroom.
The GBI says police identified themselves and issued commands, but Salmon did not comply.
Instead, the District Attorney’s office said Salmon threw a cellphone at the officers, which Mathis said he believed was a knife. Mathis fired shots and Salmon was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital, where he died.
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A GBI report in December 2022 said that Salmon was never seen touching a firearm, though a gun was recovered from the room he was in.
The attorney representing the officers, Chuck Boring, pointed out to the judge that prosecutors made a misstep during the Grand Jury hearing by using the same internal affairs witness who presented inadmissible evidence. That witness presented inadmissible evidence during one of the officer’s immunity hearings as well. Boring argued that that’s not allowed
At what was supposed to be an evidentiary hearing, prosecutors told the judge they would like to drop the grand jury charges and start over with a new grand jury.
A trial date has not yet been set.
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