Staff writer Bill Torpy contributed to this story.
Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill is a much-beloved, much-maligned lawman.
He has earned a reputation as the go-to cop to rid a neighborhood of a suspected drug house or find a missing teen, his supporters say.
He’s been known to charm grandmothers with a smile or a hug or invite mothers with wayward children to tour the jail in a demonstration of tough love. He hands out business cards with his personal cellphone number.
Privately, however, Hill’s detractors say he can be vindictive and cunning. He has been known to abruptly turn on long-time followers if he senses there’s disloyalty.
The latter perception may explain why Hill, and members of his department, have built a wall of silence on Hill’s role in a shooting last weekend that left one of the sheriff’s female friends in critical condition.
Hill said in a 911 call that the shooting of 43-year-old Gwenevere McCord near Lawrenceville was accidental, according to Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter. But since that call, Hill has not talked to investigators about the incident, despite multiple requests. And his top deputies, who arrived at the scene, have refused to cooperate with police.
“Sheriff Hill demands cult-like loyalty,” said Jonathan Newton, Hill’s former public information officer who was once a member of his inner circle. “If you deviate from that, you will be dealt with and not favorably.”
Hill has the right to remain silent as he faces a single misdemeanor charge of reckless conduct, though Atlanta criminal defense attorney Lawrence Zimmerman said Hill looks more suspicious by not speaking.
But the small group of top-ranking officers from Clayton who appeared at the Lawrenceville crime scene right after the shooting do not have a right to silence, unless they are accused of a crime.
“We’d call that an extraction team, a unit that comes in and extracts you from problems,” said Howard Sills, the Putnam County Sheriff and former president of the Georgia Sheriffs’ Association.
Porter has said if they do not cooperate, he can compel them to speak by calling them in front of the grand jury.
Shegale Thurmond, who is the spokesperson for the Clayton County Sheriff’s office, has not returned a half dozen calls made to her office since Sunday when the shooting occurred. Neither has the second-in-command, chief deputy Shon Hill.
The top deputies, who were out of their jurisdiction, may have arrived to help Hill take control of the situation, said Michael Mears, an associate professor of law at the John Marshall school of law.
“They’re probably working to help Sheriff Hill avoid criminal prosecution,” he said. “It seems like he’s using his officers as investigators for his own good. I’m amazed, quite frankly.”
And for good reason.
Hill is less than two years removed from a highly-publicized trial in which he was acquitted of 27 felony charges — ranging from racketeering to theft by taking — that could have ended his career.
He was re-elected to his post, even with those charges hanging over his head. And with his latest troubles, Hill still has strong support in the county.
“Should he be removed as sheriff? No. He’s doing an amazing job,” said Rosa Barbee, a community activist who lives across the street from Hill in Rex. Barbee is founder of the Georgia Active Support Group.
Unified in silence
Controversy has followed Hill from his first day in office as sheriff when he positioned snipers on the roof of the building as he dismissed 27 employees. He has had public falling-outs with a number of top lieutenants.
Bill Crane, a crisis management consultant in Atlanta, said Hill’s “pattern of reprisal behavior for those who speak out against him” is well-documented.
Newton, Hill’s former public information officer, recalled the time he was ordered to write Hill’s autobiography at the sheriff’s home. When Newton asked to stop working at his home, Hill told him: “If I assign you to [work on] Mars, you better call NASA and have them build [you] a rocket ship to get you there.”
Even top Clayton County officials are unified in their silence.
District Attorney Tracy Graham Lawson declined comment. Chamber of Commerce President Yulonda Beauford and Commissioners Michael Edmondson, Gail Hambrick, Shana Rooks and Sonna Singleton did not return calls seeking comment.
“I don’t have any comment right now. I just want to make sure [McCord] gets better. I’m praying for both of them,” Sen. Gail Davenport said Thursday.
While silence may be the best move for Hill for a criminal case, it’s “terrible for him” from a public relations standpoint, Zimmerman said. In the vacuum, people presume he is hiding something — especially because he is law enforcement and will not speak.
“Most people start to associate silence with guilt,” Crane said. “The longer the facts go unknown, you’re not winning points.”
He said the long-term impact is larger than Hill’s character or political future.
“If that behavior continues, it does reputational harm to Clayton County,” Crane said. “Clayton County has been coming back above the waterline. This would take it in the opposite direction.”
About the Author
