No criminal charges for fatal Union City officer Shooting of 19 Yr Old Black Teen

From [HERE] Freda Waiters sobbed uncontrollably late Wednesday night as she learned a Fulton County grand jury would not indict the Union City policeman who shot her teenage son in the back, her attorney said.

“This officer gets to go back to work tomorrow, and Ms. Waiters will never see her son again,” attorney Mawuli Mel Davis told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Wednesday night.

Ariston Waiters, 19, was shot and killed after an altercation with a policeman on the night of Dec. 14.

The grand jury decided not to criminally charge the officer involved in the shooting, Davis said. Waiters’ family has led several protests, claiming that the shooting was unjust. Their claims are bolstered by a Fulton County Medical Examiner’s office autopsy report that showed Waiters was shot twice in the back.

But Union City police officials have maintained that the officer involved in the shooting was justified in his actions, claiming in a statement released in January that Waiters “grabbed the officer’s service weapon” as he was being handcuffed.

Police said witnesses saw Waiters fire shots into the air during a fight at the Hickory Park subdivision, prompting the call for police response.

Wednesday night, those seeking justice for Ariston Waiters met with disappointment.

"The family is devastated," Davis said. "They’re hurt, they’re angry, they’re frustrated."

The GBI investigated the case, and turned their findings over to the Fulton County District Attorney’s public integrity unit in January.

Waiters is the second 19-year-old shot and killed at the hands of police in a three-month period that the district attorney’s office is investigating.

Howard's office also is investigating the shooting of Joetavius Stafford, who was shot by a MARTA police officer following an altercation in October.

Prosecutors presented the case to the grand jury on Wednesday, and the decision came down late Wednesday evening.

Davis would not say what legal course, if any, the family wanted to take next, but he said Howard offered his help.

"We do have a commitment from the DA’s office to provide us with the info that they gathered in the course of their investigation," Davis said. "Our firm will review it and determine how to continue."

Beyond that, he said the family's supporters would turn again to activism.

"This is not the end of it," Davis said. "There will be a continued political and legal fight. Community activists have vowed to continue the fight for justice."

A rally will be held Thursday at 7:30 p.m., at the Sakofa United Church of Christ, at 150 James P. Brawley Drive.