On Thursday, October 22, 2026, in the Coweta County Justice Center, the District Attorney convened and conducted two meetings regarding the current state of the evidence in the investigation of the October 3, 2026 death of Zadarious Dorsey in Newnan, Georgia. On Thursday morning, the District Attorney met with the civil attorneys hired by the maternal side of Zadarious Dorsey’s family. On Thursday afternoon, the District Attorney met with members of the paternal side of Dorsey’s family, leadership for the state and county NAACP, and a number of other community leaders, including local clergy and elected officials representing the area where Dorsey was shot and killed. The elected officials in attendance were Coweta County Commissioner Al Smith, Newnan Mayor James Shepherd, Newnan Councilwoman Cynthia Jenkins, and Coweta County Schoolboard Member Andrew Copeland.
The afternoon meeting was requested by Dr. Cynthia Finney, President of the Coweta County NAACP, who also facilitated the attendance of the paternal family, with whom the DA’s Office had not previously had contact. In addition to presenting evidence from the GBI’s ongoing investigation, the District Attorney explained in the meeting that the investigation remains ongoing, including the autopsy report. The District Attorney also explained that the DA’s Office does not represent the City of Newnan or its police department, and that the role of the DA’s Office is to determine if there is sufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the officer violated Georgia law when he used deadly force against Dorsey.
The District Attorney is aware that the civil attorneys provided to the media their perspective on the evidence. The District Attorney declines to comment on the attorneys’ opinion or characterization of what the evidence does or does not show. In light of the questions asked by Dorsey’s family and the community leaders who attended the above-referenced meeting, however, the District Attorney is willing to disclose to the public information regarding the interaction before the shooting between the officer under investigation and the occupants of the vehicle, including Dorsey, and information regarding the firearm found at the scene.
The GBI recovered a Canik 9mm pistol with an extended magazine and one bullet in the chamber approximately 42 feet from where Dorsey fell to the ground after he was shot. Relative to the direction of the foot chase, this firearm was located approximately in the two o’clock position ahead of Dorsey’s body to the diagonal right. The District Attorney’s Office contacted the firearm’s original purchaser, who stated the gun was stolen from him in Albany, Georgia a number of years ago. On October 15, 2026, the GBI Division of Forensic Sciences completed its DNA Typing report for this Canik 9mm pistol, which identified a match between DNA located on the firearm and the DNA of Zadarious Dorsey.
Dorsey was prohibited from possessing firearms as a condition of his Coweta County bond, ordered on October 10, 2025, and his Carroll County bond, ordered on February 16, 2026. Under Georgia law, it is a felony to possess a firearm that a person knows or should know was stolen, and it is a misdemeanor for a person under 21 years of age to carry a handgun in public, unless he is serving or has served in the armed forces or is exempted by virtue of employment in certain government offices.
The surveillance camera footage from Cliff Circle shows that the vehicle in which Dorsey was a passenger was never stopped by the officer who chased and shot Dorsey, nor by any other officer. Every other occupant of that vehicle freely walked away from the vehicle and the vehicle itself was driven away from Cliff Circle at approximately 1:23 a.m. after the shooting, which occurred at 1:13 a.m. At approximately 1:11 a.m., the officer who shot Dorsey pulled his unmarked police vehicle next to the vehicle occupied by Dorsey and other passengers, then the officer exited his vehicle wearing a vest that said, “POLICE,” with his badge visible and attached to the left side of his vest.
Dorsey and the other occupants of their vehicle then walked away from the vehicle, and the officer told only Dorsey, and no other person in the vehicle, to “stop,” before he chased Dorsey on foot. During the foot chase, the officer referred to Dorsey by his nickname, saying, “stop, Dae Dae,” which demonstrates that he was familiar with Dorsey. Prior police reports document the officer’s presence for Dorsey’s prior arrests in October 2025 and May 2024, both of which involved Dorsey’s alleged unlawful possession of a firearm. The officer was also present for Dorsey’s removal and trespass from Newnan High School in August of 2023.
Georgia law and US Constitutional law contemplate three types of police-citizen encounters for purposes of whether and how Fourth Amendment protections apply: “tier-one” consensual encounters, “tier-two” investigative detentions, and “tier-three” arrests. In a “tier-one” consensual encounter, a citizen’s liberty is not restricted, and an officer can initiate verbal communication without any suspicion of criminal activity as long as a reasonable citizen would feel free to terminate the encounter. In a “tier-two” investigative detention, an officer may briefly stop and detain a citizen for investigation if the officer has a reasonable, articulable suspicion that the citizen is engaged in criminal activity. In a “tier-three” arrest, an officer must have probable cause to believe the citizen has committed a crime, which is a standard higher than reasonable suspicion.
The District Attorney takes no position about whether the officer had a reasonable, articulable suspicion that Dorsey was committing or had committed a crime when he told Dorsey to stop prior to chasing Dorsey on foot.
Importantly, whether an officer had a reasonable, articulable suspicion to detain a citizen is irrelevant to the question of whether an officer who used force against that citizen was justified in doing so as a matter of self-defense. In other words, regardless of whether the officer had the requisite reasonable articulable suspicion to detain Dorsey prior to the foot chase, the District Attorney’s prosecution decision about this use of deadly force will depend on whether the DA’s Office can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the officer was unreasonable in believing deadly force was necessary to prevent death or great bodily injury to himself.
All of the above information has been presented to Dorsey’s family, their civil lawyers, and the above-referenced community leaders. The GBI investigation, including the completion of the autopsy report, is ongoing. The District Attorney’s Office will continue to offer updates on the case as the investigation develops.
JOHN HERBERT CRANFORD, JR.
DISTRICT ATTORNEY
COWETA JUDICIAL CIRCUIT