Family says police dropped the ball after man froze to death at Clayton County bus shelter

CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — The sister of a man whose body was found frozen at a bus shelter says police dropped the ball and this could have been prevented.

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“The family and I are really upset,” Marilyn Walton told Channel 2′s Tom Jones.

They are upset with Forest Park police after their loved one, 48-year-old Timothy Crowley was found dead at the MARTA bus shelter on Riverdale Road on Jan. 22.

Police say his body was frozen after he was there during some of the coldest temperatures of the new year. Walton says what happened left her family sad and mad.

“Don’t nobody deserve to die on the street and being froze to death,” she said.

Walton says she reported her brother missing to Forest Park police four years ago. He was mentally ill and homeless.

She says she would routinely call, email and text to find out about the progress of the case, but no one would call her back.

“If they had somebody that kept us updated and had somebody on this case, that’s supposed to be investigating, this could have been prevented,” she said.

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Walton says a Clayton County officer kept digging and was able to identify her brother and his next of kin. That’s how they found out their loved one was dead.

Now, they don’t want anyone else to go through this. They want police to be more responsive when it comes to the mentally ill and homeless. They want city and county leaders to be more committed to getting them off the streets during dangerous weather.

“We’re here to do whatever we can to make that possible because we wish this upon nobody,” Walton said.

Forest Park police said they are working on getting a response to the family’s claims. Clayton County says they have discussed coming up with a plan of action in light of this incident.

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A spokesperson said she would get back to Jones. An autopsy will determine exactly how Crowley died.

Click here, if you would like to contribute to a GoFundMe account set up to help with Crowley’s funeral expenses.

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