Friends: Pastor Mistakenly Killed In Drug Sting

STEPHENS COUNTY, Ga. -- A pastor was shot and killed following a drug sting in Stephens County, Ga., on Tuesday, and the officers involved and friends of the pastor are giving different versions of what led up to the shooting.

The Stephens County coroner confirmed that 28-year-old Jonathan Ayers was pronounced dead at Stephens County Hospital on Tuesday.

Ayers, a father-to-be, was the pastor of the Shoal Creek Baptist Church. He maintained a personal blog linked off the church's Web page, jonathanayers.blogspot.com.

Sheriff Randy Shirley said that officers had been involved in an undercover drug sting at an unnamed establishment in Toccoa. He said the target of the sting was a passenger in Ayers' car. Shirley said Ayers dropped the woman off and went to the Shell station. He said the officers followed Ayers there.

Shirley said, outside the Shell station, the plain-clothes officers identified themselves with a badge. The officers said that Ayers put his car in reverse and struck an agent. They said they opened fire on Ayers when he drove toward the second officer. Two shots were fired in the car, one hit Ayers. The officers said Ayers sped away and crashed about a half mile from the Shell station. They said they found him conscious and alert, but he died a short time later.

The woman who was the subject of the drug sting was arrested, but police are not identifying her yet. She is charged with selling cocaine. Other charges against her are pending.

Investigators said they did not find drugs in Ayers' car.

"They deserve punishment," said Ayers' sister, Rebecca Floyd. "They deserve to feel somewhat of the pain we're feeling, because I can't get my brother back he's gone forever."

Floyd said there's no way her younger brother would have run if he would have known the men who had guns were officers. The officers were undercover and weren't in uniform, but investigators said they had badges around their necks and clearly identified themselves.

"I think anyone in that situation would run," Floyd said. "I know I would. If someone pulled up to me with guns, I would run."

She said her brother was known to help strangers.

"I could bet my life on it he did not know her," she said. "I could bet my life on it, because that's the kind of person he was. He was a good Christian man, and that was his goal was to lead souls to Christ."

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has been called in to look at the case. It's still interviewing witnesses and will match those stories to what the officers say happened.

Floyd said her brother's first baby is due in February.

"I'm just heartbroken this baby will never see his daddy or her daddy," she said. "He'll never get that opportunity."

Floyd said she's praying for answers and the strength for forgiveness.

"That's the type of person my brother was," she said. "He would forgive the person who shot him."

Friends who have been discussing Ayers' death in online forums and in e-mails said, unlike the police description of the shooting, they believe Ayers may have just been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

One of many e-mails received by WYFF News 4 said:


"Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2009, Jonathon Ayers was shot and killed by a Toccoa police officer. Ayers was at a walk-up ATM machine to get money to have tires put on his wife's car. After getting his money, he saw men running at him. Thinking he was to be robbed, he ran for his car. He was shot through the door and the bullet went through his lung and liver. He eventually wrecked his car and was taken to Stephens County Hospital. The bleeding of his liver could not be stopped and Ayers died in surgery.

"Later, it was found that the police officer who shot him thought Ayers was involved in a drug deal. When Ayers ran, the officers open fired. GBI and NCIS are involved in this investigation.

"Ayers was pastor of Shoal Creek Baptist Church of Lavonia. He leaves behind a wife and expecting child.

"Ayers was simply at the wrong place, at the wrong time."

The GBI agent in charge of the investigation, Mike Ayers, said, "The shooting happened at the intersection of Broad Street and Currahee Street at a Shell station."

He said, "Yesterday at approximately 3 p.m., we were contacted by the Stephens County Sheriff's Department. There was an officer-involved shooting in Stephens County in the city of Toccoa … Yesterday, the sheriff's department and district attorney's office requested that the GBI conduct an investigation into that shooting, which did lead to a fatality."

Mike Ayers said, "At this time, I really can't release any specific information concerning the investigation."

"This is one of those tasks the GBI typically gets involved in anytime an officer is involved in a shooting," Mike Ayers said.

News 4's Kisha Foster spoke to a woman outside Shoal Creek Baptist who identified herself as Jonathan Ayers' sister-in-law. She described him as a "godly man." She said there are "a lot of lies going around about what happened, and the police department is trying to cover up what they did."

The two agents are on administrative leave with pay until the investigation is complete.