Fulton deputies could still face murder charges in Antonio May’s death

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - Six Fulton County deputies whose indictments in the 2018 death of inmate Antonio May were thrown out last year could still face murder charges, depending on a Tuesday Georgia Supreme Court hearing’s outcome.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is appealing the quashed indictments in hopes that jailers Arron Cook, Guito Dela Cruz, Omar Jackson, Jason Roache, Kenesia Strowder and William Whitaker will still face charges.

May, 32, was arrested in September 2018 on a misdemeanor trespassing charge after police said he was throwing rocks at downtown’s American Cancer Society building. May was taken to Grady Hospital and diagnosed with a substance abuse psychotic disorder and then booked into the Fulton County jail.

According to a lawsuit filed by his family, May was going through a mental health crisis. After he was placed in a cell, deputies said May removed his clothing and began pleasuring himself. Deputies asked him to stop, and when he refused, May’s family said he was pepper sprayed, beaten and subjected to a stun gun. He died while in custody; a Fulton County Medical Examiner’s report showed May also had Ecstasy in his system.

Last November, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney quashed the indictments of the six jailers who were indicted in May’s death. McBurney ruled prosecutors should have given the deputies notice of their indictment, thus allowing the jailers the opportunity to testify before the grand jury that eventually indicted them.

All six of the jailers’ cases will be argued together.