Freda Waiters said Friday she was not surprised a Fulton County grand jury cleared a former Union City police officer in the 2011 shooting death of her son, Ariston.
After two days of testimony, the jury returned a “no bill” Thursday in the case of former Officer Luther Lewis. A grand jury in May 2012 had also cleared him.
Freda Waiters called the case a “cover-up” and the legal system “corrupt” as she and other protesters gathered at the Fulton County courthouse in downtown Atlanta to protest the outcome.
Waiters said she got the news from District Attorney Paul Howard in a phone call.
Howard reopened the case in May following an Atlanta Journal-Constitution/Channel 2 Action News investigation that raised questions about the justification for the shooting. Howard was concerned some of the information uncovered by reporters didn't make it to the grand jury in 2012.
The AJC/Channel 2 investigation found key witnesses in the case who were never interviewed by the GBI in its original investigation.
Airston Waiters ran from Lewis in a Union City neighborhood the night of Dec. 14, 2011. His mother said her son was in a crowd watching a neighborhood fight and fled when police arrived,
Lewis chased Ariston into a wooded area and already had him face down on the ground with one arm in handcuffs when Lewis said the teen tried to reach for the officer’s gun.
Lewis shot Ariston twice in the back. “I went with everything I had, like bam bam,” Lewis told GBI investigators shortly after the shooting.
There were no witnesses to the shooting.
On Friday, Freda Waiters said her son’s blood is on the hands of the government. “It’s not all about a racist thing,” she said. “It’s a higher and bigger thing.”
The mother said lawyers and supporters will continue to fight for justice in the case.
Channel 2 Action News contributed to this report.
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