Overview
- The GBI has charged DeKalb County Officer Derrick Harris Jr. with involuntary manslaughter and reckless conduct after the July 7 shooting in an Avondale Estates backyard.
- Arrest warrant affidavits filed by the GBI say 19-year-old Seth Jayden Eccles was lying face down with his hands behind his back when Harris, holding his gun in one hand, fired as he tried to put on handcuffs.
- DeKalb County fired Harris after the charges and officials say officers and EMS tried life-saving measures before Eccles died at a hospital.
- Investigators say the encounter grew out of an earlier coordinated search for a person of interest in an armed mail-carrier robbery and that officers had briefly encountered Eccles earlier the same day before learning of an active warrant.
- Key evidence has not been publicly released, including whether Eccles was armed and any body-worn or dashcam footage, and the GBI’s independent probe will make its case to the DeKalb County district attorney for prosecution.