Family Plans Peaceful Protest Friday After 18-Year-Old Killed by Newnan Police

The family of 18-year-old Zadarious Dorsey, who was shot and killed by a Newnan Police Department officer October 3, is organizing a peaceful protest outside the police department Friday, October 9, at 2 p.m., hoping to bring the community together as they seek answers about his death.

Stacey Bristow, a Newnan community organizer often known locally as Poetry or Miss Poetry, is helping the family organize the gathering. Bristow, a social worker and founder of the grassroots organization Beyond the Streets Social Justice Task Force, has spent much of the week assisting Dorsey’s relatives as they navigate the investigation and the loss of their family member.

Bristow told The Citizen Thursday that the family had already decided to hold the protest when she became involved. Newnan Mayor James Shepherd initially contacted her about the demonstration, and Bristow suggested that he meet directly with Dorsey’s relatives.

“The process was already organized by the family,” Bristow said. “I stepped in with, of course, the approval of the family to help with the organizing.”

The protest will begin at 2 p.m. outside the Newnan Police Department, with no predetermined ending time. Bristow said she is reaching out to pastors, ministers, and other religious leaders to open the gathering with prayer and help create an atmosphere of respect for Dorsey’s family.

The family may speak, along with community members who want to share their concerns, offer support, or ask questions.

Bristow said the event is intended to be peaceful, with no plans for confrontation or property damage.

“We want to be respectful to the family. The family does not want any of that either,” she said.

Family meets with Newnan mayor

Bristow said she accompanied Dorsey’s relatives to a meeting Wednesday with Newnan Mayor James Shepherd, who offered his condolences and listened to their concerns.

The gathering included Dorsey’s aunt Angela, with whom Bristow said he lived, another aunt, Christy, and his grandmother.

Bristow said Shepherd reached out to her initially, but she suggested that he speak directly with Dorsey’s family.

The meeting gave the family an opportunity to ask questions about what happened October 3, although Shepherd could not answer many of them because the investigation remains in the hands of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

Among the family’s concerns is how relatives were notified of Dorsey’s death.

According to Bristow, the family learned what had happened through people other than the police department. She said relatives want to understand whose responsibility it was to notify next of kin and whether appropriate procedures were followed.

She said Shepherd intended to forward questions outside his authority to Newnan City Manager Cleatus Phillips for further review.

The family also wants to know why the officer initially approached the vehicle Dorsey was riding in and what prompted the pursuit that followed.

The GBI has reported that an officer approached a vehicle on Cliff Circle shortly after 1 a.m. October 3. Five occupants exited the vehicle, four of whom ran. The officer pursued Dorsey and deployed a Taser, which investigators said was ineffective.

According to the GBI, Dorsey pulled a gun from his waistband, and the officer fired multiple shots after ordering him to stop and drop the weapon. Dorsey died after being transported to a hospital.

Investigators recovered a handgun at the scene.

Bristow said the family continues to question the circumstances surrounding the initial encounter, including whether it was a traffic stop or a voluntary interaction between the officer and the vehicle’s occupants.

Family scheduled to review video evidence Friday

Bristow said she is scheduled to accompany the family to a meeting with Coweta Judicial Circuit District Attorney Herb Cranford on Friday, October 9, to review evidence from the shooting.

Cranford confirmed in an October 6 statement that his office has the body camera footage from the officer who shot Dorsey, along with video showing Cliff Circle, where the initial encounter and foot chase began.

The district attorney previously offered the family an opportunity to view the footage, but relatives initially declined a meeting because they were grieving.

Cranford has said he will consider publicly releasing the evidence after the family has had an opportunity to review it and provide input on whether and how it should be released.

Bristow said the family has not yet seen the footage.

She hopes the video will help answer questions about the officer’s actions and the circumstances surrounding Dorsey’s death, although she acknowledged that the quality and clarity of recordings made at 1 a.m. remain unknown.

A history of peaceful protests

Bristow has organized demonstrations in Newnan before, including 17 consecutive days of protests on the downtown square following the 2020 murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.

“During the murder of George Floyd by an officer, I held protests on the square for 17 days straight without any incident, and we had a huge turnout each of those days,” Bristow said.

She said former Mayor Keith Brady attended those gatherings and spoke with protesters, and that the demonstrations occurred without violence, riots, or damage to buildings and monuments.

Bristow wants Friday’s demonstration to follow the same approach. While she recognizes that the shooting has generated strong emotions, she said the family does not want violence or disruption.

“It’s real, but also how do we turn that emotion into purpose,” she said.

She hopes that purpose will include more community engagement with government and law enforcement, discussion of police policies, and greater participation in public meetings.

Bristow also clarified that although she maintains a local Facebook presence associated with the Black Lives Matter movement, she is not affiliated with the national Black Lives Matter organization.

Her own organization, Beyond the Streets Social Justice Task Force, focuses on local social justice advocacy.

Remembering an 18-year-old life

Bristow said she has been working with Dorsey’s family since shortly after his death, helping identify resources and providing support in her professional capacity as a social worker.

She described the family as close-knit and said Dorsey lived with his aunt Angela.

Although his previous legal troubles have received considerable public attention, Bristow said his family remembers him as someone they loved and cared for, regardless of the difficulties he may have experienced.

Dorsey had been indicted in Carroll County on felony child molestation and statutory rape charges, along with a misdemeanor battery charge, stemming from a February incident in Carrollton. He was free on a $20,000 bond and awaiting arraignment when he was killed.

Those charges remained unresolved at the time of his death.

Bristow said she does not believe Dorsey’s previous charges should overshadow the questions about what happened during his encounter with Newnan police.

Reflecting on his age, she spoke about the loss of his opportunity to grow and change.

“This young man hasn’t even begun to live life. 18, just turned 18, learning how to enter into adulthood,” Bristow said. “The opportunity to change behaviors has been stripped away from him.”

She said conversations with Dorsey’s aunt have reinforced her understanding that the family recognized his imperfections while continuing to love him.

“She talks about him not being a perfect child. Who is right? But she holds her children accountable, and that stuck with me,” Bristow said.

For Bristow, who has a 24-year-old son, the shooting also carries a personal significance.

When a young person dies during a police encounter, she said, parents naturally think about their own children and whether something similar could happen to them.

Seeking answers beyond Friday’s protest

Bristow said the family’s expectations extend beyond Friday’s demonstration.

She wants a thorough investigation of the shooting, transparency from authorities, and consideration of whether police procedures need to change.

“To Newnan Police Department, it is the demand to do a thorough investigation, as it relates to this tragic incident, it is expected that there is truth, transparency, and accountability,” Bristow said.

She also hopes the community will continue supporting Dorsey’s family long after the funeral and the protest are over.

“We can’t end our support and our outpouring of love after Zadarious Dorsey has been laid to rest,” she said. “We have to continue to ask the questions, to be involved and engaged in these systems, if we want to see changes.”

The Coweta County NAACP is also assisting the family but is not participating in the organization of Friday’s protest. Its president, Dr. Cynthia Finney, previously told The Citizen that the organization is waiting for the investigation’s findings before determining what additional action may be appropriate.

Bristow said the gathering Friday will be an opportunity for community members to grieve alongside the family and express their concerns peacefully.

“There’s nothing that we can do to bring him back,” she said. “We know that, but we want to see changes within these systems that continue to oppress our people and to prevent anything like this from ever happening within Coweta County again.”

Read The Citizen’s original October 3 report on the shooting and its subsequent coverage of Dorsey’s pending felony charges and the investigation.