SAVANNAH, Ga. () – The District Attorney (DA) of Chatham County is urging local business owners to retain any potential evidence concerning last month’s shooting incident at Oglethorpe Mall, as her team prepares legal actions against the five individuals who have been apprehended.
“Even the smallest piece of evidence that might seem insignificant could be crucial in a case of this magnitude,” stated Chatham County DA Shalena Cook-Jones.
Earlier this month, Cook-Jones’ office reached out to every business owner at Oglethorpe Mall, as well as mall security, soliciting them to hold onto anything that might qualify as evidence linked to the shooting case.
obtained a copy of one of the letters.
“You can imagine in a situation like this one where it’s a very hectic scene and you have first responders there whose job it is to make sure first everyone is safe, people are not really thinking about could and could not be evidence. It could be a shoe. It could be a drop of blood. It can be a piece of clothing, a shell casing,” she said.
While the letters are technically only a request, the DA said there could be consequences for intentionally concealing evidence.
“Where we think that evidence might exist, we could send a subpoena for it and obtain it that way,” she said. “If we found that something did exist and perhaps it was destroyed despite the fact that we told them we needed it, there are a number of things that could possibly happen. There are charges for obstruction or tampering with evidence.”
The District Attorney’s office also has only a matter of months to make their case to a grand jury, the body that will ultimately decide whether the case should go to trial.
“Several of the suspects have been brought into custody. By law, they have to be indicted within 90 days, or they will be automatically entitled to a bond of some amount,” Cook-Jones said.
If any of the accused are granted bond, they would not have to wait in jail until they stand trial.
However, according to the DA, the clock isn’t the only thing her office will be battling.
“In the day of social media where nothing is sacred and people are throwing their opinions around about what they think should or should not happen, that makes it very hard to get a fair trial here, and that’s something we’ll also likely be fighting against once this case is resolved.”
