Macon sheriff speaks after inmate pleads guilty, sentenced in death of deputy
After a Bibb County Jail inmate pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter of a deputy and was sentenced, Sheriff David Davis said Tuesday afternoon that “a clearer picture of the incident can now be seen,” referring to the violence the detainee sustained at the hands of the deputy.
The Macon Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office shared Monday in a news release that, Albert Booze had admitted to stabbing and tasing Deputy Christopher Knight on April 6, 2021, after the deputy had struck him in the face multiple times.
After entering a guilty plea on Monday, Booze was sentenced to 13 years in prison. Davis shared a statement on Tuesday, saying that “the actions of both individuals ended in a tragic loss of life.”
Davis said he and District Attorney Anita Howard knew after culminating their investigation that Knight, as well as other deputies, would take “unruly inmates” to an unsupervised room called the “lieutenant’s office,” where they would be subjected to physical punishment. However, it was not prudent to discuss the details during Booze’s case while it was active, Davis said.
“Now that Booze has entered a plea and has been sentenced, a clearer picture of the incident can now be seen,” Davis said Tuesday.
On the day of the incident, Booze had splashed toilet water on a jail staff member, which resulted in the jail staff displaying the detainee in his cell naked for several hours, prosecutors said. Then, Booze was taken to the room, but he believed he was being taken for medical examination. He was “compliant during the transport to the isolated area” before Knight struck the detainee in the face.
Booze had accessed Knight’s taser and an unauthorized knife in his possession and used those weapons to kill him, prosecutors said. Even though Booze had a legal right to defend himself, “his response with weapons exceeded what the law permits for self-defense,” according to prosecutors.
Booze also suffers from mental health issues, but they “do not excuse the defendant’s criminal conduct,” according to prosecutors.
Howard said that her office supports “ongoing reform efforts while ensuring that accountability and public safety remain our top priorities.”
She further established that mental health resources and employees following proper detention protocols “are essential to preventing future tragedies,” she said Monday.
“We continue to work every day to address the many challenges we face in the jail,” Davis said.
