Verdict Reached In Shooting Death Of GA Officer

ATLANTA, GA — The jury has found the man accused of fatally shooting an off-duty Fulton County deputy not guilty of all counts, including murder.

Defendant Alton Oliver, who was 26 years old at the time of his arrest, was accused of killing Deputy James Thomas Jr., 24, in December 2022 at Bolton Road. He was found not guilty on Friday after the jury deliberated for about a day.

Thomas was found dead in a crashed car on Dec. 29, 2022. By January, Oliver had been arrested on murder charges in connection with the case, police said at the time.

During his trial testimony, Oliver claimed it was around 4:30 a.m. when he was walking home from work. He said Thomas drove up to him in his personal car three times to request sexual favors from him and to give Oliver a ride, per WAGA-TV, which has been streaming the trial.

"As he get close, I get spooked," Oliver said during testimony, per WAGA-TV. "I pull my firearm from my waistband, and I fire it in his direction."

Oliver claimed self-defense, but prosecutors say he did not speak of sexual threats during police interviews, WAGA-TV reported. An Atlanta police detective told Oliver's attorney that Thomas "either solicited or offered" sexual favors, per the report.

RELATED: Arrest Made In Killing Of Fulton Deputy Found Dead In Crashed Car

At the time, police said the shooting resulted from an argument and occurred after the car crash. The pair did not know one another at the time of the shooting, police said.

Thomas, who died at the scene, was with the Fulton County Sheriff's Office for less than a year prior to his death.

Oliver was arrested during a traffic stop at his workplace after homicide investigators used dash cam footage from truck drivers and the city's Connect Atlanta camera network to identify a suspect, police said.

He was charged with felony murder, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, police said. The trial against Oliver lasted for about a week.