Georgia police officers found a 21-year-old male passenger dead in a vehicle during a traffic stop and, after questioning the driver, released him without arrest. Now, the deceased man’s mother is questioning why the driver was allowed to leave.
According to Fox 5 Atlanta, police officers conducting a routine traffic stop discovered Malachi A. Mitchell dead in the vehicle of a driver who was not identified. His mother, Kenya Mitchell, says she needs answers after the driver was released after being questioned.
The incident occurred on Jan. 29, as deputies from the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office found Malachi deceased. The officers contacted the Criminal Investigations Division and Crime Scene Unit to pick up the driver. The driver was taken to the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, where authorities stated that he fully cooperated with the investigators. He was released after they questioned him, pending the outcome of the ongoing investigation.
Kenya said the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office didn’t notify her, and she only found out her son was dead because she and Malachi’s girlfriend tracked his location from his phone. When they went to the area looking for him, that’s when she discovered that he was dead after seeing a coroner’s van and several police vehicles at the scene.
She believes he went out to conduct a legal gun sale with the driver.
When she discovered that they allowed the driver to be released, she questioned why he was allowed to go home after they found her son’s dead body in the car.
“For them to protect his family and him is beyond my understanding,” said Mitchell. “So, what happened? Where is the man who shot my son?”
Kenya also states that they have not told her anything, and she is confused about why. She said she received no compassion or answers.
“[No] compassion, any answers, not even my son’s body,” said Mitchell.
Authorities have not released Malachi’s cause of death.
The investigation is active. Once completed, the results will be sent to the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office for review.
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