GA Deputy Who Fatally Shot Innocent Man Won't Be Charged: D.A.

CAMDEN COUNTY, GA — A Georgia deputy, who in 2023 fatally shot a man who was wrongfully imprisoned for the armed robbery of a Florida store, will not face charges in his death, prosecutors announced this week.

Leonard Cure, the 53-year-old who was exonerated in 2020 after wrongfully spending 16 years in a Florida prison for robbery, was shot and killed by Camden County deputy Buck Aldridge around 7:30 a.m., Oct. 16, 2023. The shooting happened during a traffic stop on Interstate 95 north, south of mile marker 9, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation previously said.

Cure had been pulled over for reckless driving while returning to Atlanta from a visit with his mother in Port St. Lucie, Florida, the Associated Press reported.

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Keith Higgins, the district attorney for the Brunswick Judicial Circuit, on Tuesday announced that Aldridge will not be criminally charged.

"After reviewing the investigative case file ... I have concluded that under the totality of the circumstances, Deputy Aldridge's use of deadly force was objectively reasonable," Higgins said in a letter to the Camden County Sheriff's Office. "The pursuit of criminal charges, therefore, is not warranted."

Higgins told the Associated Press that Aldridge was "being overpowered at that time." Camden County Deputy Dalton Vernakes confirmed to the outlet that Aldridge kept his employment at the sheriff's office and works in the administrative division.

Attorney Adrienne Browning, representing Aldridge, agreed with Higgins' finding, telling the Associated Press that the GBI thoroughly investigated the case and that Higgins "came to the right conclusion."

“We’re happy he’ll be able to continue to serve the citizens of Camden County as he’s done for the past 12 years," Browning said in the statement.

Cure's family was notified of the decision on Monday, the news outlet reported.

“This decision is a devastating failure of justice, sending the message that law enforcement officers can take a life without consequence,” family attorneys Ben Crump and Harry Daniels said in a statement to the Associated Press.

The GBI previously said Cure complied with commands until learning that he was being arrested. Following the alleged non-compliance, authorities said Aldridge tased Cure before Cure assaulted Aldridge.

Authorities said Aldridge then tased Cure a second time and used a baton on him. The non-compliance continued, the GBI said, and Aldridge then shot Cure, who died from his injuries.

Two days later, the sheriff's office released body camera and dash camera footage of the fatal shooting.

RELATED: Video Shows Fatal GA Police Shooting For Man Wrongfully Imprisoned

Prior to the deadly encounter with Cure, Aldridge had been terminated for use of force, according to a past News4Jax report.

The media outlet cited Aldridge's personnel file, reporting that he had been fired in August 2017 from the Kingsland Police Department for "violating the use of force policy during a traffic stop."

Cure was exonerated in December 2020 after being convicted of the armed robbery of a Broward County, Florida, store in 2003. He was initially sentenced to life in prison.

After being released from prison, Cure relocated to an area near Atlanta, where he reconnected with his family, had begun working and was in the process of buying his first home.

RELATED: GA Deputy Who Killed Man During Traffic Stop Has Use Of Force History

“My heart is disconnected and my soul aches,” Cure's mother, Mary, said at a past afternoon press conference at the Camden County Courthouse, according to the Innocence Project of Florida.

The Innocence Project partnered with the Conviction Review Unit of the Broward County State Attorney's Office for Cure's exoneration.

Cure received an unknown amount of compensation on Aug. 9 for his time spent in prison, according to the organization. The State of Florida also apologized to Cure.

"Lenny was a great person who had already lost 16 years of his life to wrongful incarceration. And now this. He and his family deserved better. Lenny’s life mattered. We are completely devastated," the Innocence Project said in a Facebook post the day Cure was killed.

Cure's family is suing Aldridge and then-Sheriff Jim Proctor in U.S. District Court, alleging Aldridge used excessive force and Proctor disregarded Aldridge's history of violence, the Associated Press reported. The family is asking for $16 million.

Aldridge and Proctor deny the claims, and the case is pending in U.S. District Court, the news outlet reported.