Alleged cop killer got out of jail in April; was accused of shooting man

The man accused of gunning down an Eastman police officer Saturday night had only months earlier pleaded guilty to shooting and wounding a man in a neighboring county.

The alleged cop killer, Royheem Delshawn Deeds, was arrested last August after shooting a man in the leg during an apparent altercation in the Telfair County town of Lumber City.

Later, the best witness in the case recanted a statement that implicated Deeds, and the victim himself claimed not to know who had shot him.

Even so, in April, according to court records, Deeds, 24, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in exchange for a sentence that included time served in jail and five years of probation.

Deeds, authorities say, has ties to the south Middle Georgia hamlets of Milan, Chauncey, McRae and Lumber City, which sits in the southeast corner of Telfair not far from where the Ocmulgee River flows into the Altamaha.

A law enforcement source with knowledge of Saturday’s killing of Eastman police Officer Timothy Smith told The Telegraph that Deeds had only recently begun “hanging out” in an area on the south side of downtown Eastman where Smith was fatally shot.

Deeds had “bounced around” from town to town, he said, and even had ties to the Atlanta area. Deeds was arrested there last August when he was being sought in connection with the Lumber City shooting.

Investigators have declined to say publicly how, exactly, they tracked Deeds to the Jacksonville, Florida, area where he was apprehended Monday.

This story was originally published August 15, 2016 at 3:05 PM with the headline "Alleged cop killer got out of jail in April; was accused of shooting man."