Roderick Walker spoke to the media Friday after he suffered a beating from Clayton County deputies last week. Walker was beaten and arrested after sheriff’s deputies, suspecting a broken taillight, pulled over a vehicle Walker was riding in last Friday, his attorney Shean Williams. Flanked by Williams, his attorneys from The Cochran Firm, and family, Walker spoke briefly on what he experienced during the incident.
“I was scared and I feared for my life,” said Walker. “I just pray and hope that it doesn’t happen to nobody else. I lost consciousness and I couldn’t breathe. That’s all I have to say.”
Walker, 26, was released Thursday from the Fulton County Jail and will be required to wear an ankle monitor, county sheriff’s spokeswoman Tracy Flanagan said.
The Fulton County District Attorney, Paul Howard worked with Walker to resolve the probation violations in Atlanta.
Walker did not speak about any facts or particulars in the case. However, his attorneys said Walker did suffer neurological injuries and blurred vision.
Myers could be seen in the video punching Walker in his midsection and around his head during the arrest while another deputy, Dekota Riddick, pinned him down and kept him in a hold around his neck.
At one particularly unsettling moment in the video, Walker could be heard saying, “I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die, I can’t breathe.”
Meanwhile, Walker’s attorneys said have not received any formal information about why Clayton County Deputy Brandon Myers was fired. There are no body camera videos from the incident. However, Myers worked for the Clayton County Sherriff’s Office from November 2019. The five notable incidents Deputy Myers were involved in, all were based on the use of force, each stemming from traffic stops.
Walker had previously been released from Clayton County Jail but was transferred to Fulton County on alleged probation violation charges, including allegedly possessing a firearm by a convicted felon and first-degree cruelty to children. He still faces battery and felony obstruction charges stemming from the arrest. Butterfield said previously that he hopes “they do the right thing” and drop those charges.
