Dougherty prosecutors used pandemic court slowdown to pursue cold cases

ALBANY — While the COVID-19 virus has caused gridlock in the state court system in terms of moving fresh cases forward, prosecutors have used the in-court down time to seek justice for victims and families involved in cold cases.

For most of the past year, the state’s justice system has ground to a halt as the COVID-19 pandemic has canceled nearly all presentments of new cases to grand juries and halted the gathering of juries to try cases.

Courts in Dougherty County held the last criminal jury trial in March 2020, and since that time only one grand jury has been empaneled.

But that doesn’t mean prosecutors haven’t kept busy. They have filed charges with criminal accusations for those crimes for which indictments are not required and prepared cases to be ready for review by a grand jury or for trials as courts re-open in the coming weeks. Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Harold Melton, who announced recently his plans to retire from the court in three months, said this week court presentments may now continue in the state, provided they can be conducted safely.

The district attorney’s office also has had time to take a fresh look at older cases, and in some instances has had some success in making arrests.

“One of the things we were able to do, in addition to the accusations, was to review a lot of cold cases,” Dougherty County District Attorney Greg Edwards said. “We’ve been reviewing a lot of cases that were pending.”

Recently, the Albany Police Department was able to make an arrest in a nearly three-year-old homicide, the second cold case that APD says has been solved since the year began.

On Feb. 25, police arrested Demetrious Qushawn Covin and James Michael Hall in connection with the Aug. 11, 2018, slaying of Gary Jefferies. Jefferies, 45, was found dead in the backyard of his 614 W. Mercer Ave. residence with multiple gunshot wounds in what the district attorney described as a robbery gone bad.

“People came to the address at 614 Mercer (Ave.) and the robbery was, I guess, not completed,” Edwards said. “There was allegedly a struggle and then Mr. Jefferies was shot.”

A woman was identified as a person of interest in the case early in the investigation.

At the moment, police are seeking a third person in the case, Edwards said. Law enforcement received information identifying Covin and Hall as viable suspects, and that information was corroborated, the district attorney said.

Covin and Hall are being held in the Dougherty County Jail. No bond hearing has been held.

In late January, police arrested Bernardo Litic Thompson, 31, in the Nov. 10, 2018, slaying of 33-year-old Dharmisthaben Patel. Patel was the passenger in a car driven by her husband. As the couple was leaving the 1400 Palmyra Road Devi convenience store that they managed, a gunman approached in what police described as an attempted carjacking.

Patel’s husband attempted to drive away from the scene, but the gunman fired into the car. Dharmisthaben Patel was struck in the shoulder and later died of her wounds.

The arrest was made in similar circumstances to the other cold case solved by APD. A witness came forward with fresh information that allowed police to identify Thompson as the suspect.

Thompson apparently made statements about his activity that night to several others after the fatal shooting occurred, Edwards said.