The family of a Middle Georgia woman who died last year after falling from a moving patrol car has filed a federal lawsuit against Hancock County Sheriff Tomlyn Primus and two of his colleagues, alleging negligence, wrongful death and constitutional rights violations.
Filed Tuesday in Macon, the 95-page lawsuit does not quantify the damages being sought for Brianna Grier’s family. But the family’s attorney, Ben Crump, called the complaint a “$100 million” lawsuit.
Hancock County is a little over 100 miles east of Atlanta and south of I-20.
Grier, 28, a mother of young twin daughters, died on July 21, 2022, six days after falling out of a Hancock Sheriff’s Office vehicle and suffering a fatal head injury. Her parents said they called 911 on July 15 while she was suffering from a mental health crisis at her Sparta home.
Grier was handcuffed and placed in the back seat of the patrol car, but the back door near where she was sitting was never closed, a GBI investigation found. A Hancock deputy, the GBI said, thought he had closed the door before driving off but had not. Grier’s hands were cuffed in front of her and she was not wearing a seatbelt when she fell from the vehicle, authorities said.
Primus did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday.
On Nov. 7, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced it had closed its investigation of Grier’s death and that District Attorney T. Wright Barksdale III had decided not to bring the case before a grand jury. Barksdale said while Grier’s death was tragic, there is no evidence the deputies committed any crime.
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