DOUGLAS COUNTY, Ga. — The mother of a young man who was found dead in a car during a traffic stop is demanding the driver be arrested and charged with murder.
The driver was questioned and released after a deputy pulled him over for reckless driving and discovered the body.
Malachi Mitchell’s mother Kenya was outside the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday seeking justice.
She arrived with supporters and spoke to the media.
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“When you ask how we feel, we don’t know ‘cause we don’t have no answers to feel,” she said.
Mitchell’s anguish is mixed with anger of the death of her 21-year-old son.
She said he met up with someone to sell a firearm that he legally owned.
Early on the morning of January 29, she learned that deputies pulled over a driver on Thornton Road near Home Depot and made a shocking discovery.
“He got pulled over for reckless driving, running through a red light with my already deceased son in the car,” Mitchell said.
Deputies took the driver, who Mitchell claimed was 19 years old, in for extensive questioning and then let him go without being charged.
“Why wasn’t he arrested?” Channel 2′s Tom Jones asked.
“He was released pending the outcome of the investigation,” Lt. Col. Pounds with the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office replied.
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“There’s no way on God’s green Earth that anyone can be reckless driving and have a deceased body in the car and walk away within four or five hours,” Mitchell said.
She said her son was shot to death, which hasn’t been confirmed by investigators.
She said Malachi was kind, respectable, and guided by his faith.
She describes her loss as unimaginable.
“You ripped out our hearts. Do you understand me? You ripped out our hearts. Do you get that?” she said.
Regan contacted the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office to see if they had any additional information or comments they might have about the investigation, but they did not respond.
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