Jacob Thompson, the 27-year-old former Georgia Trooper who shot and killed 60-year-old Julian Edward Roosevelt Lewis during an attempted traffic stop in southeastern Georgia earlier this month, has been fired and arrested.
“The Georgia Department of Public Safety (DPS) terminated Jacob G. Thompson today, Aug. 14, 2020, due to his “negligence or inefficiency in performing assigned duties; or commission of a felony,” reads a statement released by the Georgia Department of Public Safety.
On Aug. 7, Thompson attempted to stop a Nissan Sentra for a traffic violation in Screven County, Georgia. When the driver refused to stop, Thompson performed a maneuver that forced the vehicle off the road and into a nearby ditch. The former trooper then got out of the patrol car and fired a single shot at Lewis, striking and killing him. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Civil rights attorney Francys Johnson said Lewis was shot in the face while he was still in the vehicle. Johnson also said the traffic violation was a minor offense like “a burned out taillight.”
Thompson has been arrested and faces charges of felony murder and aggravated assault. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is currently investigating the incident.
During a virtual meeting on Thursday, three civil rights attorneys, including Georgia NAACP President James Woodall, called for the FBI to become involved in the case.
Lewis’ service is scheduled for Aug. 15, and he leaves behind a wife, son, and two grandchildren.
“I am hurting. I am in pain over the taking of the life of an innocent man. It doesn’t make sense. I miss my husband. I love my husband. The crying, the loneliness just won’t stop. It’s so wrong,” his late wife said at the meeting.
This is the 56th officer-involved shooting the GBI has been called on to investigate this year.
