DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A mother whose son was killed by an officer at the Atlanta Veteran’s Hospital where he went to get help, says she will continue to fight for justice for her son.
Onnie Smith is not happy the officer won’t face charges.
The incident was captured on an officer’s bodycam. Smith said that watching the video wasn’t easy.
“It was very painful,” she said during a news conference in front of the DeKalb County courthouse.
The video shows what happened before and immediately after the officer shot 58-year-old John Robert Smith in January.
“Put your knife down,” you hear an officer say repeatedly on the video.
One officer had his gun trained on Smith, who had a knife to his throat. He told the officers he was tired. He kept asking officers to shoot him.
“In the head. In the head,” you hear Smith say.
The back and forth went on for a few minutes. Then Smith went into a room with the knife where a worker was inside.
“Don’t you go in there,” the officer shouts.
Smith went into a room. As he moved towards the worker, the officer fired more than a dozen shots, killing him.
“He didn’t deserve to die like that,” said Amos King, with Justice for Veterans.
King organized the news conference with Smith’s family. They expressed disappointment that DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston concluded the officer’s actions were justified by law. So she didn’t charge him in connection with the shooting.
Smith’s mother said the decision didn’t surprise her.
“In my mind I knew that she wasn’t going to prosecute,” Onnie Smith said.
Smith’s mother said her son was mentally ill. He had gone to the hospital because he had thoughts of harming himself.
King said John Smith had no intention of harming the workers.
“When Mr. Smith went in the room, he didn’t know that guy was behind him. That went in that room,” King said.
John Smith’s mother said Boston made the wrong decision.
“We’re gonna continue to do what we need to do to get some justice for John,” Onnie Smith said.
The family wants another agency to take a look at this incident. They are also talking to attorneys about their next steps.