Man accused of shooting Tifton officers dies after jail incident, officials say
A man charged with shooting two Tifton police officers Friday has died following an “isolated incident” at the Coffee County Jail, officials confirmed Tuesday.
Coffee Coroner Brandon Musgrove confirmed that Davy Deonte Royal, 35, died Monday night. Musgrove said he wasn’t able to share a cause of death at this time.
The Coffee sheriff’s office said in a news release that an unidentified inmate was found unresponsive. The inmate then died at the hospital, the release stated.
“The family of the individual has been notified; at the request of Sheriff Fred Cole, the GBI has been requested to complete a comprehensive, independent investigation into the matter,” the statement read. “At this time, no additional information is being released.”
The GBI said it was requested by the Coffee sheriff’s office “to investigate a jail death,” without confirming the inmate’s name. Tifton police said they had no additional information.
Royal died just three days after he was accused of shooting the two officers as they tried to serve a search warrant at his home in the 800 block of Lee Avenue, deputies said. Family members, through separate GoFundMe pages, identified the officers as Michael Gaskins and Jerry Fulford.
The warrant was related to an arson investigation being conducted by police, the Tifton Fire Department and the state fire marshal’s office.
After Tifton police responded to the home with help from the GBI, officials said Royal shot at the officers, who returned fire. Both Gaskins and Fulford were struck and taken to the hospital. Police said Gaskins has since been released, while Fulford was undergoing surgery Tuesday, according to his fundraising page.
Gaskins started with Tifton police in 2007, serving on and off over the years along with other departments in Moultrie, Ashburn and Sycamore, according to Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council records. Fulford joined the department Dec. 1, 2023, and celebrated his second anniversary just one day before the shooting, the records show.
“Please join Marty, the girls and me in prayer for the two Tifton officers wounded this morning in the line of duty,” Gov. Brian Kemp said in a statement Friday. “These brave officers, their families and the entire Tifton Police Department will remain in our thoughts and prayers as they face the road ahead.”
Following the gunfire, Royal barricaded himself inside the home and ultimately surrendered hours later without incident, the GBI said. Online records show he was booked into the Tift County Jail, then later transferred to Coffee County.
Royal had been facing two counts of criminal attempt to commit murder, five counts of aggravated assault on a peace officer and five counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, according to the GBI and Coffee sheriff’s office. He was being held without bond.
