A sheriff's deputy who inadvertently deleted a message seeking security for a party of a grandchild of the late singer James Brown resigned after an Augusta teen was shot dead at the event.
Capt. Bill Probus, who ran the Columbia County Sheriff's Office patrol division, resigned Wednesday, about a week after the discovery that he deleted a message requesting a deputy for the party at the Belair Conference Center, according to the Augusta Chronicle.
The voice message was converted into an email, which Probus deleted on the day it was sent -- four days before the fatal March 19 incident.
"He just accidentally deleted it along with nine other e-mails, and it was gone," Sheriff Clay Whittle told the newspaper. "He didn't see it."
James S. Gillette Jr., 19, a conference center employee, was shot dead while working at the event, the 16th birthday party for one of Brown's grandchildren.
Police have arrested five Augustans in connection with the shooting. Johndrick Lors Levert Barnes, 20, was charged with murder, according to the Augusta Chronicle. The other four -- Brandon Devon Berry, 17; Morrieo Demetrius Carswell, 17; Jordan Dashawn Harrison, 18; and a 16-year-old boy -- were charged with lying to authorities, the newspaper reported.
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