A Grand Jury Recommended Action In An Officer-Involved Shooting From A No-Knock Warrant

COBB COUNTY, GA — Johnny Bolton, 49, was shot and killed by Cobb County sheriff's deputies last year after authorities executed a no-knock warrant on his Smyrna apartment. Whether charges are warranted in the case is still being reviewed.

The Cobb County District Attorney's Office presented the case to a grand jury, which recommended further action last month. But the DA's office said it has not determined what charges, if any, will be presented to a grand jury, the agency said Thursday.

At 4:41 a.m. on Dec. 17, 2020, Marietta Cobb Smyrna Organized Crime Task Force agents and Cobb County Sheriff's Office SWAT team deputies executed a narcotics search warrant at Bolton's residence.

As officers entered the apartment, a SWAT team member discharged his firearm and an occupant of the apartment was struck, according to a news release from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

Bolton was later identified as the person wounded in the apartment. He was taken to Wellstar Cobb Hospital for treatment, but was pronounced dead.

According to 11Alive, a witness said when officers entered Bolton's apartment, he stood up and was immediately shot and killed. The Bolton family's attorney said he was not armed at the time.

The Cobb sheriff's office said the warrant was part of a drug bust, but Bolton's name was not listed on that warrant. Instead, the person who owned the apartment was named on the warrant, but arrested at another location, 11Alive reported.

The GBI investigated the shooting and turned over its findings to the DA's office in March, the Marietta Daily Journal reported. District Attorney Flynn Broady Jr. presented evidence to a grand jury Sept. 9, according to a statement from his office Thursday morning.

The grand jury reviewed the evidence — which included testimony from a GBI agent and the medical examiner, camera footage, witness statements and photographs — before determining the deputy's use of force was not justified under Georgia law, the newspaper reported. The jury recommended further action.

The DA's office initially indicated that it planned to bring charges to another grand jury and seek indictment, but amended the statement Thursday. Here's the statement in full:

"It is the District Attorney’s Office’s standard procedure to send all officer involved shooting incidents to a grand jury. If the grand jury recommends further action, there will be further investigation to determine what charges, if any, should be sent to a future grand jury. As it pertains to the officer-involved shooting of Johnny Bolton, the District Attorney’s Office presented it to a grand jury, which recommended further action on September 9, 2021. The incident is still an open and active investigation. For clarification, the District Attorney’s Office has not made a determination of what charges, if any, will be presented to a grand jury at this time."

An official timeline for another grand jury has not been released.

Bolton's children, Diamond Bolton and Kyrie Turner, are also suing the deputy who shot their father in federal court, the MDJ reported.