Joey Celestin wasn't even at the wrong place at the wrong time when he was arrested, along with a co-worker, in Sept. 2010 and charged with fatally shooting a Decatur strip club owner.
Now, more than one year after spending three weeks in jail for a crime he couldn't have committed, Celestin, 29, is suing the county for negligence, malicious arrest and false imprisonment. His civil suit, filed last week in DeKalb County State Court, names the county as a defendant along with veteran DeKalb police Detective R.S. Davis, who is alleged to have "concealed from the court material information that would have eliminated [Celestin] and [Bill] Nichols as suspects."
At the exact moment Terry Stephenson was shot outside Pin Ups on East Ponce de Leon Avenue, Celestin and Nichols were one mile away at Atlanta Kitchen, where both men worked at the time. The proof was irrefutable, as employers of the food service equipment company had to sign in using a biometric time clock that required a hand print.
Moreover, neither Celestin or Nichols, who had spent their lunch hour at the club, matched descriptions provided to police of the shooter, seen speeding away in a black sedan. Celestin, who drove the pair to Pin Ups, owned a blue Dodge Charger at the time.
Despite seemingly iron-clad alibis, Celestin alleges that, while incarcerated, he was told Nichols had implicated him in the shooting. His arrest warrant stated that Nichols "admitted to being there but not participating." There is no evidence that suggests he ever fingered Celestin.
Celestin also said investigators claimed to have video footage showing him shooting Stephenson and fleeing with a duffel bag containing $61,000.
"I didn't see how I could be set up," Celestin told the AJC in a June interview. "I don't have any enemies. And no one at the club knew me well enough. It was like some TV scenario. "
Though eventually released from jail due to a lack of probable cause, DeKalb police refused to exonerate Celestin or Nichols.
"New information has come up and detectives are looking into it, but these new developments do not mean the detectives cannot revisit charges against these two individuals in the future," a police official told the AJC in Sept. 2010.
The investigation remains "open" and "active," DeKalb police spokeswoman Pamela Kunz said Thursday. She declined comment on Celestin's lawsuit.
Celestin's attorney, Dave Krugler, filed a notice of claim to DeKalb officials in June declaring his intent to seek damages for his client's "unlawful, unconstitutional arrest, imprisonment and incarceration."
"We've literally heard nothing from the county since," which paved the way for the last week's filing, Krugler said. He requested an "unequivocal statement" exonerating his client, financial compensation and an investigation into those involved in the Pin Ups investigation.
"So far they're 0-for-3," Krugler said.
Celestin said he lost his job, apartment and car because of his arrest. He's relocated to Florida with his wife and two sons in hopes of "starting over," according to his attorney.
It could be awhile before a trial date is set, Krugler said.
"I have a feeling there's going to be some push back [by the county] because it's still an open investigation," he said.
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