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The family of 18-year-old Zadarious Dorsey, who was shot and killed by a Newnan police officer October 3, has retained nationally known civil rights attorneys Ben Crump and Harry Daniels, who dispute the official account of the shooting and are considering a possible civil lawsuit.
Meanwhile, police records obtained by The Citizen reveal that Newnan officers had arrested Dorsey nearly a year earlier, when he was 17, after he fled from police during a traffic encounter and was found carrying a handgun.
The two developments add new information to a case that remains under investigation by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, as questions continue about the circumstances that led an officer to pursue and fatally shoot Dorsey.
Attorneys challenge official account
In an October 16 announcement, Crump and Daniels said they are representing Dorsey’s family as they seek answers about the shooting.
The attorneys dispute the GBI’s preliminary account that Dorsey pulled a firearm from his waistband before the officer opened fire.
According to the attorneys, video evidence shows Dorsey was unarmed when he was shot. They also say the encounter was not a traffic stop and that the officer had no reason to suspect Dorsey of committing a crime.
“This wasn’t some traffic stop where the suspects fled. It wasn’t a traffic stop at all,” the attorneys’ statement said. “This officer pulled behind them with no blue lights on and, even though he had no reason to suspect Zadarious of any crime, he chased him down and killed him when he was unarmed.”
The statement did not identify which of the two attorneys made the remarks.
The attorneys said their team is reviewing available legal options, including a possible civil lawsuit. No lawsuit was announced.
Their account differs from preliminary findings released by the GBI, which reported that Dorsey ran from an officer, ignored commands to stop, and pulled a gun from his waistband before the officer fired multiple shots.
Investigators recovered a handgun at the scene, which Coweta Judicial Circuit District Attorney Herb Cranford later reported had been stolen from Albany, Georgia, in 2020.
The body camera footage has not been publicly released, and The Citizen has not independently reviewed it. DA Cranford has indicated that it will be released after the autopsy is complete.
Previous foot chase ended in gun arrest
Newly obtained Newnan Police Department records document a previous encounter between Dorsey and city police on October 9, 2025, almost exactly one year before his death.
According to Newnan Police Department Incident Report 2025-10-0142, an officer observed Dorsey making an improper U-turn while riding a scooter near Taylor Street and Fair Street in Newnan.
Dorsey, then 17, fled on foot during the traffic investigation. Officers pursued and apprehended him.
During the encounter, police reported finding a firearm and tobacco products in his possession.
Dorsey was arrested and charged with possession of a firearm by a person under 18, under Georgia law O.C.G.A. § 16-11-132.
The report indicates that the officer’s body-worn camera was activated and that Dorsey was transported to the Coweta County Jail.
The earlier arrest is significant because it documents that Newnan police had previously encountered Dorsey in circumstances involving both a foot chase and a firearm.
However, the report does not establish whether the officer who shot Dorsey on October 3 had participated in that earlier arrest or knew about it.
A separate police report from March 25, 2026, also documents that a Newnan investigator recognized Dorsey by name and by his nickname, Dae Dae, during a marijuana-related investigation.
Together, the records establish that Dorsey was known to at least some members of the Newnan Police Department before the fatal encounter. After viewing the bodycam footage, the family, at their recent protest, also indicated that when the officer who shot Dorsey called it in, he knew exactly who he was and how to correctly spell Zadarious.
Questions remain about October 3 shooting
According to the GBI, shortly after 1 a.m. October 3, a Newnan police officer observed a white vehicle near Dodson Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and followed it until it stopped on Cliff Circle.
When the officer approached, five men exited the vehicle. Four ran, while one walked toward a nearby residence.
The officer pursued Dorsey, ordering him to stop. When Dorsey continued running, the officer deployed a Taser, which investigators said was ineffective.
The GBI reported that Dorsey then pulled a gun from his waistband, prompting the officer to order him to stop and drop the weapon before firing multiple shots.
Dorsey died after being transported to a hospital.
At an October 9 protest outside the Newnan Police Department, Dorsey’s relatives described what they said they witnessed in the officer’s body camera footage during a private meeting with Cranford earlier that morning.
Family members questioned whether Dorsey posed an immediate threat to the officer and said they believed the evidence contradicted the initial account of the shooting.
Approximately 100 demonstrators gathered peacefully outside the police department, many wearing shirts bearing the words “Justice for Zadarious Dorsey.”
The family’s attorneys have now added their assessment of the evidence, saying Dorsey was unarmed when he was shot.
The GBI investigation remains ongoing, and no official finding has been announced regarding whether the officer’s use of deadly force was justified.
Previous charges separate from shooting investigation
Before his death, Dorsey also faced unrelated felony charges in Carroll County stemming from a February incident. He had been indicted on charges of child molestation and statutory rape, along with misdemeanor battery, and was awaiting arraignment.
Those allegations had not been resolved at trial.
In an earlier interview with The Citizen, Newnan Mayor James Shepherd, who is also an attorney, cautioned against allowing Dorsey’s previous legal troubles to determine how the shooting is judged.
“He was not on trial for that when he was in that car,” Shepherd said.
The mayor emphasized that the shooting should be evaluated according to what happened during the October 3 encounter, rather than conclusions drawn from Dorsey’s previous conduct.
Cranford has said his office will review the GBI’s findings to determine whether criminal charges against the officer are warranted.
The district attorney previously announced plans to release body camera footage and other investigative evidence after receiving the final autopsy report.
For now, the newly obtained police reports establish that Newnan officers had previously pursued and arrested Dorsey following an encounter involving a handgun.
What remains unknown is whether that earlier history had any bearing on the officer’s decision to pursue Dorsey on October 3, or on the moments that ended in his death.
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