Bibb deputy’s mother sends message to suspect’s family

As hundreds of people filed through Monday to pay their respects to Bibb County sheriff’s investigator T.J. Freeman, his mother had a message she wanted to deliver.

She was not only grieving the loss of her son, who was killed Thursday responding to a call for backup in the pursuit of a suspect in the Unionville neighborhood.

Vicki Lindsey felt sorry for the family of Martavius T. Kinder, who faces charges including felony murder and first-degree vehicular homicide.

“I need to let his momma know that I pray for her and I’m not upset with any of his family,” Lindsey said. “That has just been on my heart, and I needed to let them know that.”

Four days after Freeman was killed in a crash with Kinder’s car on Columbus Road, Lindsey was flooded with condolences from law enforcement officers across the state.

Baldwin County Sheriff Bill Massee came to pay his respects to Freeman, who had a Shriner’s medal atop his SWAT uniform and was wearing a pair of sunglasses in the flag-draped casket.

“He loved it. He loved what he did,” Lindsey said. “He was the lead because he said the view from the back was not the same.”

Bibb County sheriff’s Col. Mike Carswell said Freeman stood out among his brethren from the former Macon Police Department, where Carswell was deputy chief before the departments merged.

“I remember when he came in, a little young boy,” Carswell said in the lobby of the Wilson Convention Center during visitation. “I was on the hiring board, and he never let us down.”

Freeman was an exceptional officer who leaped over others with longer tenure to become part of the drug squad, he said.

“He was always going to back you up when you needed help,” Carswell said. “We’re going to miss him.”

Freeman’s widow, Jessica, has drawn strength from the constant presence of her husband’s colleagues.

“I haven’t been alone one second,” she said in between hugs from men in uniform.

Hearing that she is the subject of the community’s thoughts and prayers, she added, “That’s the best thing they can do.”

This story was originally published May 9, 2016 at 12:52 PM with the headline "Bibb deputy’s mother sends message to suspect’s family."