Ex-Washington County deputies indicted on felony murder charges in man's stun gun death

Three former Washington County sheriff's deputies were indicted by a grand jury Tuesday on charges including felony murder in the July 7 stun gun death of a Milledgeville man.

Michael Howell, Henry Lee Copeland and Rhett Scott were fired from the department after a GBI investigation concluded that the officers had violated standard operating procedure when they hit 58-year-old Eurie Martin with a stun gun multiple times before handcuffing him.

In a video of the incident, Martin appeared to be experiencing physical distress before becoming unresponsive. He died in the front yard of a home in Deepstep, where police encountered him while checking out a report of a suspicious person.

Each officer was indicted on two counts of felony murder with underlying offenses of aggravated assault and false imprisonment in addition to two counts of involuntary manslaughter from reckless conduct and simple assault, Middle Judicial Circuit District Attorney Hayward Altman said. Each of the officers also was indicted on a count false imprisonment and aggravated assault.

With certain underlying offenses, more than a single felony murder can be charged.

A bench warrant was issued for all three former deputies.

"They will be turning themselves into the Washington County detention center tomorrow morning," Altman said early evening Tuesday.

A first appearance is set for Wednesday in Emanuel County.

Laura Corley 744-4334; @Lauraecor

This story was originally published December 19, 2017 at 6:45 PM with the headline "Ex-Washington County deputies indicted on felony murder charges in man's stun gun death."