(CNN) 鈥� Prosecutors investigating six former Georgia sheriff鈥檚 deputies fired for their involvement in the death of a man being held in a county jail last year will present the case in front of a grand jury in the coming weeks, a source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN.
The deputies were terminated after the November in-custody death of 38-year-old Terry Lee Thurmond, who was being held at the Clayton County jail south of Atlanta. The county medical examiner鈥檚 office ruled the death a homicide.
The Clayton County district attorney鈥檚 office, which has been investigating the case for several months without public comment, likely will bring the matter to a grand jury by the end of June, the source said.
Surveillance video of the November 28 incident shows deputies appearing to try to stop Thurmond from falling from the jail鈥檚 second floor. A violent struggle ensues, which ultimately resulted in Thurmond鈥檚 death.
Thurmond died just one day after he was arrested and held on suspicion of criminal trespassing at an airport and just over an hour after his encounter with jail employees, according to a review of the video and records obtained by CNN.
Less than a month later, the sheriff鈥檚 office announced it had terminated some of its employees following an investigation into Thurmond鈥檚 death.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has concluded its probe of the case and handed the case over to the Clayton County district attorney鈥檚 office, agency spokesperson Nelly Miles told CNN on Friday.
This was the first time the GBI acknowledged publicly that it had concluded its investigation.
鈥淭he GBI doesn鈥檛 make recommendations in these types of investigations. The agents gather all the facts and give the full case file to the DA for the next steps,鈥� Miles said.
Additionally, the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council is investigating former Clayton sheriff鈥檚 deputies Ellonte Johnson, Randy Gaddy, Dionte McCauley, Fred Denson, Derrick Doyle and Danilo Jones, the council told CNN.
Those ex-deputies are the same former officers who are being investigated by the Clayton County district attorney, a second source with knowledge of the DA鈥檚 probe said.
This is the first time the deputies have been named publicly. The training council鈥檚 investigation is 鈥渋ndependent of the criminal process鈥� and relates to whether the former deputies would retain their accreditation to work in law enforcement in Georgia, council Deputy Executive Director Chris Harvey told CNN.
CNN sought comment from the six former deputies but did not receive a response.
What the video and records show
Jail surveillance footage provided to CNN by an attorney representing Thurmond鈥檚 family, as well as a timeline of the video compiled by the medical examiner鈥檚 office, provide insight into the events leading up to Thurmond鈥檚 death.
The video begins around 7 p.m. on November 28, and shows Thurmond maneuvering under some railing and appearing to try to throw or move himself over the edge of a second-floor walkway inside the jail, about 8 to 9 feet off the ground floor.
At least two other inmates intervene, appearing to attempt to stop Thurmond from falling, at which point several sheriff鈥檚 deputies can be seen responding.
The video appears to show officers and inmates holding onto Thurmond to prevent him from falling. Eventually, they鈥檙e able to lift him over the railing and place him on the second-floor walkway.
The timeline document from the county medical examiner鈥檚 office said Thurmond continued to be 鈥渃ombative.鈥� Eventually, the video appears to show a deputy using a Taser or similar device on him.
The deputies and Thurmond struggle for several minutes until the deputies gain control of him. At that point, Thurmond is face down and 鈥渕ost/all of the officers appear to be placing their knees and their body weight on him,鈥� according to the medical examiner鈥檚 timeline document.
This continues for about 10 minutes, according to the medical examiner鈥檚 report and CNN鈥檚 review.
An officer close to Thurmond鈥檚 head 鈥渟eems to be placing a knee or knee(s) in Thurmond鈥檚 neck/shoulder area,鈥� the timeline reads.
Thurmond鈥檚 last noted known movement, according to the medical examiner鈥檚 timeline, was at 7:26 p.m., less than 15 minutes after deputies first made contact.
Civil rights attorney Thomas Reynolds, who is representing Thurmond鈥檚 family, said Thurmond was left unconscious for at least 15 minutes before being transported by first responders to a hospital. Thurmond was pronounced dead at the hospital, records show.
CNN鈥檚 review of the video shows that a first responder began performing CPR on Thurmond about 12 minutes after his last noted movement.
鈥淭hey suffocated him to death,鈥� Reynolds told CNN. 鈥淭his is George Floyd 2.0, except there was six of them on top of (Thurmond) for 16-18 minutes and they stayed on top of him well after he was lifeless and stopped resisting.鈥�
A final medical examiner鈥檚 report sent to CNN on Wednesday showed the immediate cause of Thurmond鈥檚 death to be 鈥渟udden death during altercation including prone positioning, physical restraint, and electroconductive device use.鈥�
According to Southern Regional Medical Center hospital records provided to CNN by Reynolds, emergency medical services personnel noted Thurmond arrived at the hospital in 鈥渃ardiopulmonary arrest鈥� after 鈥渁pparently trying to commit suicide by jumping off a landing.鈥�
鈥淗e was involved in an altercation with officers and was subsequently tased. Patient fell prone and was then found to be pulseless and CPR initiated,鈥� the hospital records read.
Reynolds said he disagreed with the records鈥� notion that Thurmond may have been making a suicide attempt.
鈥淲e also know (Thurmond) had been diagnosed with mental health issues in the past, and I believe they knew or should have known that,鈥� Reynolds told CNN. 鈥淚鈥檓 not certain I agree with that characterization because the second floor he was on is only about 8 feet high and he had an opportunity to drop from there if he wanted, and he didn鈥檛.鈥�
The attorney said that although it鈥檚 difficult to be certain, the video appears to show Thurmond was having some type of mental health episode.
鈥淣o matter what, it鈥檚 obvious they didn鈥檛 handle this situation properly,鈥� Reynolds said.
The case is 鈥渋n my office and it is an ongoing investigation,鈥� Clayton County District Attorney Tasha Mosley told CNN in an email on Tuesday, adding she couldn鈥檛 comment further.
The Clayton County jail has been the focus of several complaints involving violations of detainee鈥檚 civil rights in recent years.
In October 2022, former Clayton County sheriff Victor Hill was found guilty on six counts related to incidents in which prosecutors said he ordered detainees to be strapped into a restraint chair and left for hours.
About two years earlier, Hill was indicted on separate federal civil rights charges for directing jail staff to strap pretrial detainees into a restraint chair for an excessive period in four separate incidents in 2020, according to a release from the US attorney鈥檚 office for Georgia鈥檚 northern district.
In April, US Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia sent a letter to US Attorney General Merrick Garland highlighting substandard conditions and a lack of oversight in America鈥檚 prison system. Ossoff included the Clayton County jail as an example of a facility that does not safeguard the civil rights of incarcerated people, according to a copy of the letter obtained by CNN.
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