The household of 18-year-old Zadarious Dorsey is looking for $75 million from the City of Newnan following his October 3 death at the hands of a Newnan policeman, while recently launched proof from the Coweta Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office supplies the most in-depth account yet of the seconds surrounding the deadly shooting.
Lawyers Ben Crump and Harry Daniels submitted an ante litem notification with the city November 5, declaring that the officer unlawfully pursued Dorsey and utilized extreme force. The notification is an official action towards a possible civil claim, not a suit itself.
On November 6, District Attorney Herb Cranford launched an in-depth timeline, descriptions of body cam images, brand-new proof linking Dorsey to a pistol discovered at the scene, and initial findings about the 6 gunshot injuries he sustained.
The advancements bring brand-new details to a case that has actually divided the boy’s household and police authorities over whether Dorsey postured an instant danger when the officer fired.
$75 million wrongful-death claim
The legal notification, sent by the law practice of Ben Crump and Harry Daniels, looks for $75 million for wrongful death, discomfort and suffering, psychological and psychological suffering, and other recoverable damages.
The lawyers declare that the officer had no sensible suspicion or likely cause to apprehend Dorsey when he started pursuing him. They likewise determine prospective federal civil liberties claims, consisting of extreme force under the Fourth Amendment.
“The video plainly reveals that the officer had no factor to think that Zadarious ever had a weapon. He chased him anyhow,” Daniels stated in a November 6 declaration.
The household’s lawyers argue that Dorsey had the legal right to leave what they identify as an illegal detention.
“Zadarious had the legal right to range from a male with a weapon even if that guy likewise had a badge. That’s what he did and this officer eliminated him for it,” Daniels stated.
The notification offers the City of Newnan a 30-day chance to attend to the claim before the lawyers pursue more legal action.
Throughout a November 6 press conference, the lawyers contested the GBI’s initial account of the shooting and required criminal charges versus the officer.
Their position varies from the GBI’s initial account, which stated Dorsey pulled a weapon from his waistband throughout the foot chase and was shot after overlooking commands to stop and drop the weapon.
Whether the officer had legal premises to apprehend Dorsey, and whether his usage of lethal force was warranted, stay different concerns under examination.
6 shots fired one 2nd after alerting
The district lawyer’s brand-new timeline starts at 1:10:44 a.m. October 3, when a Ford Taurus bring Dorsey turned onto Cliff Circle from Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.
A Newnan law enforcement officer in an unmarked lorry got here 16 seconds later on.
The officer approached the lorry, and its residents started leaving. The officer called out to Dorsey by his label, Dae Dae, well before the chase started.
At 1:12:54 a.m., the officer bought Dorsey to stop, and Dorsey got away on foot.
The officer triggered his body-worn electronic camera at 1:13:10 a.m., after the preliminary encounter and pursuit had actually started.
At 1:13:30 a.m., the officer once again called out, “Stop Dae Dae.”
10 seconds later on, the officer released his Taser.
The timeline records the officer buying Dorsey to “DROP THE GUN, DROP THE GUN” at 1:13:45 a.m.
At 1:13:46 a.m., the officer fired 6 shots.
2 seconds later on, according to the district lawyer’s timeline, Dorsey stated, “I dropped it yo.”
Those words are considerable since the main conflict is whether Dorsey was still holding a gun, had actually currently discarded it, or was otherwise threatening the officer when the shots were fired.
The timeline develops the series of those declarations and the shooting however does not individually fix when Dorsey launched the weapon.
Body electronic camera frames reveal possible weapon, however last minute stays uncertain
Cranford’s workplace likewise launched 211 slides including 180 successive frames from the 6 seconds right away before and consisting of the very first gunshot.
The officer’s body cam tape-recorded 30 frames per second.
According to the district lawyer, frames 103 and 105 illustrate an item in Dorsey’s right-hand man constant with the look of a gun.
Frames 123 through 130 reveal the officer pointing his gun at Dorsey.
Frame 163, instantly before the very first shot, reveals Dorsey obviously turning his ideal shoulder back towards the officer. Cranford’s declaration particularly acknowledges that it is uncertain whether Dorsey has anything in his right-hand man because frame.
Frame 164 reveals the muzzle flash of the officer’s very first gunshot.
That difference leaves a vital concern unanswered. The brand-new images offer proof that Dorsey might have possessed the weapon throughout the chase, however the district lawyer has actually not developed that the weapon stayed in his hand at the immediate fatal force was utilized.
In an October 26 interview with The CitizenNewnan Mayor James Shepherd, who had actually evaluated the video footage with district attorneys, provided a comparable evaluation.
“The video is not definitive,” Shepherd stated.
Shepherd stated he might not identify from the recording whether Dorsey pulled the weapon, pointed it towards the officer, or tossed it away.
New Instagram proof links Dorsey to recuperated gun
Another advancement worries the Canik 9mm pistol recuperated roughly 42 feet diagonally ahead and to the right of where Dorsey fell.
Cranford formerly reported that GBI forensic screening determined Dorsey’s DNA on the gun. The weapon had actually been reported taken in Albany, Georgia, in 2020.
On October 28, detectives acquired records from Meta related to Dorsey’s Instagram account.
According to the November 6 declaration, those records consisted of a picture of 4 guns sent out to Dorsey’s account September 26, roughly one week before his death.
Among the weapons in the photo noticeably matches the look of the weapon recuperated after the shooting, Cranford stated.
Detectives traced the photo to an Instagram account related to another resident of the Ford Taurus. That male acknowledged to GBI detectives that he had actually been riding in the back of the cars and truck with Dorsey before the shooting.
The district lawyer has not openly recognized him.
The picture and DNA findings reinforce the proof linking Dorsey to the recuperated pistol. They do not develop specifically when he had it throughout the pursuit or how it came to rest 42 feet beyond the area where he fell.
Autopsy pictures develop injury areas
The GBI Medical Examiner’s Office has actually notified district attorneys that Dorsey sustained 6 gunshot injuries.
The district lawyer launched 4 cropped and censored autopsy photos revealing one injury to Dorsey’s best chest that left through his back, one injury to his ideal hip, and 4 injuries to his legs.
According to Cranford, the chest injury follows having actually been triggered by the very first shot, displayed in body electronic camera frame 164.
The place of that injury is especially appropriate due to the fact that the household’s lawyers have actually openly explained Dorsey as having actually been shot in the back.
At Friday’s press conference, Crump identified the shooting as 6 shots in Dorsey’s back, according to CBS News Atlanta. The medical inspector’s initial findings, as explained by Cranford, rather recognize one bullet going into the best chest and leaving through the back, together with the hip and leg injuries.
The total autopsy report stays incomplete, and district attorneys have actually not yet launched its complete findings.
Dorsey consistently asked to go to the healthcare facility
The recently launched timeline likewise supplies extra details about what took place after Dorsey was shot.
At 1:13:57 a.m., around 11 seconds after the shooting, Dorsey asked to be required to the health center.
He duplicated that demand numerous times.
At 1:14:15 a.m., the officer protected Dorsey’s handcuffs. The officer asked for emergency situation medical services at 1:14:18 a.m.
At 1:15:20 a.m., the timeline records Dorsey stating, “Hey I’m fixin to pass away, I’m fixin to pass away brother.”
Officers consequently used medical materials, consisting of a tourniquet, and eliminated Dorsey’s handcuffs at 1:17:17 a.m.
At 1:20:15 a.m., an officer reported that Dorsey had no pulse. CPR started at around 1:20:22 a.m.
Emergency situation medical workers got to the scene at 1:27:43 a.m., roughly 14 minutes after the shooting. The timeline likewise suggests that an air ambulance was asked for however decreased since of climate condition.
Throughout an October 9 demonstration outside the Newnan Police Department, Dorsey’s auntie Christy White explained hearing her nephew ask the officer why he had actually shot him.
The district lawyer’s freshly launched timeline rather tape-records Dorsey stating he had actually dropped the weapon right away after the shooting. It does not consist of the concern White reported hearing, although that lack does not develop that he never ever stated it.
The total audio recording has actually not yet been openly launched.
Officer understood Dorsey from previous encounters
As The Citizen reported October 26, the officer who shot Dorsey had actually taken part in previous cops encounters including him.
Those consisted of arrests in May 2024 and October 2025 including claims of illegal gun belongings and an August 2023 occurrence in which Dorsey was gotten rid of and trespassed from Newnan High School.
The October 2025 arrest, recorded in authorities records gotten by The Citizenlikewise followed a foot chase in which officers reported recuperating a gun from Dorsey, then 17.
The officer’s duplicated usage of Dorsey’s label throughout the October 3 encounter develops that he acknowledged the teen.
It stays uncertain whether that familiarity affected his choice to pursue Dorsey instead of the other residents of the car.
2 different legal concerns
In his October 26 declaration, Cranford differentiated the legality of the officer’s preliminary effort to apprehend Dorsey from the different concern of whether lethal force was warranted.
The district lawyer stated his workplace had actually not figured out whether the officer had sensible, articulable suspicion of a criminal offense when he bought Dorsey to stop.
Cranford described that his criminal charging choice eventually depends upon whether district attorneys can show beyond a sensible doubt that the officer was unreasonable in thinking fatal force was required to safeguard himself from death or excellent physical injury.
The lawyers representing Dorsey’s household are pursuing a civil claim under a various legal procedure, consisting of accusations including the pursuit and the officer’s usage of force.
No criminal charging choice versus the officer has actually been revealed.
Complete body video camera video still to be launched
Cranford’s workplace stated it has actually contracted with an expert videographer to prepare the officer’s around 43-minute body cam recording for public release.
The recording will consist of the complete audio however will be modified to prevent revealing Dorsey’s suffering, constant with the household’s dreams.
The district lawyer provided the most recent proof to Dorsey’s paternal loved ones November 3 and to the household’s civil lawyers November 6.
The GBI examination and the medical inspector’s last autopsy report stay pending.
More than a month after the shooting, district attorneys have actually recorded 6 gunshots, a pistol connected to Dorsey through DNA and Instagram records, and an officer who understood him from previous encounters.
The most substantial concern stays unsettled: what the officer could fairly see and think about Dorsey’s actions at the exact minute he fired?
The response will identify the next phase of the criminal examination, even as the household prepares to pursue its $75 million civil claim.
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