Georgia teen who stabbed Auto Zone staffer seven times wanted to kill a White man after watching hours of cop firing videos
COLUMBUS, Georgia: 19-year-old Jayvon Hatchett was arrested this week
after Columbus police released surveillance images of him assaulting a
51-year-old White male in what police call was a "premeditated, brutal
assault".
According to reports, Hatchett was seen walking into an AutoZone on
Tuesday, August 25, 2020, asking for a thermostat and after he was
informed the store didn't have it, he stabbed a White employee in the
neck and torso seven times. Witnesses said Hatchett fled the scene
immediately after committing the assault. The surveillance footage also
shows him fleeing the scene.
According to courtroom testimony, Police say Hatchett told them he
had been watching videos on Facebook for hours of police shootings
around the country. Police say he told them he decided during those
videos he wanted to stab a White male. He was arrested and charged with
aggravated assault and possession of a knife during the commission of a
crime. As it turns out, the 19-year-old had been charged for criminal
damage to property just three days prior. Six months before that, he was
reportedly booked for two felonies, including aggravated assault.
The police said that the victim had no apparent connection with the
assailant. He was transported to the hospital in a critical condition
but is now expected to recover — apparently lucky enough to survive the
injuries. According to reports, Sgt Ray Mills told Judge Julius Hunter
that Hatchett met him with a smile at his home when authorities went to
capture him. He even readily confessed to the stabbing, adding that he
"felt the need to find a White man to kill" after watching videos of
police brutality across the country. His home was a short distance away
from the AutoZone.
"Mr Hatchett told me that he had been watching Facebook videos of
police shootings in other parts of the country and that he felt
compelled to go stab a White male," SGT Mills testified. The presiding
judge has ordered Hatchett to have mental health evaluation, declined to
issue a bond, and is held at the Muscogee County Jail until the case is
passed over to Superior Court.
If he is charged under the new hate crime law signed by Georgia
Governor Brian Kemp in June 2020, there might be tougher sentencing.
While there is no hate crime charge that can be added at the law
enforcement level, if this is proved in court, the judge can prolong the
sentencing. Under the law, a person found guilty of committing a hate
crime against someone because of their actual or perceived race, color,
religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender, mental
disability, or physical disability as it relates to these protected
classes would face additional punishment from six months to a year in
prison and a fine of up to $5,000 for one of five misdemeanour offences
and at least two years in prison for a felony offence.
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