- Five Georgia police officers were charged with murder related to Fernando Rodriguez’s death in 2019.
- Rodriguez was walking down the street naked when officers met him and checked him over a dozen times, the prosecutor said.
- The five officers involved were charged with murder, aggravated assault and violation of the oath of office.
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Five Georgia police officers were charged with murder related to Fernando Rodriguez’s death in 2019.
Rodriguez, 24, had just attended the Imagine Music Festival in Hampton, Georgia when he ran into the cops on September 20, 2019. He was naked and was walking down a street when police stopped him and drugged him more than a dozen times in response to a statement from the Henry County Attorney’s Office.
Officers kneeled on Rodriguez’s arms, neck and back in the street for nearly 10 minutes, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. Rodriguez died days later at Grady Memorial Hospital, and his death was classified as asphyxiation by a coroner, NBC News reported.
In a statement to Insider, Page Page said a family lawyer said Rodriguez was “unarmed, naked and in need of medical attention. Instead of trying to help Fernando, these officers tortured and killed him.”
“Fernando’s family hoped that all officials involved in his death would be fully prosecuted, and that is exactly what is happening,” Page Pate told Insider.
“The family understands that in Georgia it is still difficult to charge police officers with crimes rather than convicting them. We think this indictment is a good first step, but the case is far from over, ”added Pate.
A Henry County grand jury indicted the five officers on November 19 after two days of testimony. Each officer was charged with malicious murder, two cases of grievous bodily harm, one of grievous bodily harm, and one of violating the oath of office.
“The grand jury charged each officer once for violating his oath of office for violating his police officer oath by stretching Rodriguez prone on the floor, handcuffed and shackled, holding him and putting pressure on him exercised body, “says the statement.
The prosecutor said arrest warrants will be issued next week against Henry County officers Robert Butera and Quinton Phillips and Hampton Mason Lewis, Marcus Stroud and Gregory Bowlden police officers.
The Rodriguez family accepted a $ 3 million settlement from the Hampton Police Department, according to AJC, and they are still pursuing charges against the Henry County Police Department.
