A man, his wife and his brother were arrested Monday, nearly eight months after another man was choked to death in Clayton County, the sheriff’s office said.
The arrests were made in light of the medical examiner’s ruling in connection to the death of Cory Thomas, Clayton County sheriff’s spokeswoman Sgt. Ashanti Marbury said Tuesday in a statement.
Courtney Cherry, his wife Cordelia Traylor and his brother Kindall Cherry were celebrating a friend’s birthday at a restaurant in unincorporated Riverdale on March 8. They told police Thomas, 39, drank to a point where he was so intoxicated he started a fight with an officer and later fell asleep in the back of a car, Marbury said.
When they realized Thomas wasn’t responsive, about 45 minutes later, they called 911, Marbury said.
When police arrived, someone was performing CPR on Thomas, but he was already dead.
“At the time, several interviews were conducted and no information or evidence was present that would have led investigators to believe that Thomas’ death was not natural in nature,” Marbury said.
Police learned two days later that Courtney Cherry had fought with Thomas and placed him in a chokehold shortly before Thomas became unresponsive, Marbury said.
Courtney Cherry was arrested on felony murder and aggravated assault charges, Marbury said. Kindall Cherry and Cordelia Traylor were charged with concealing a death and obstruction of an officer.
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