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Funeral to be held for slain Fulton County police detective

FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — Police officers from near and far are expected to gather in College Park to bid farewell to a Fulton County police detective killed in the line of duty.

The funeral for 48-year-old Terence Avery Green of East Point is scheduled for 1 p.m. Friday at World Changers Church International in College Park. Green will then be buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens, also in College Park.
 
Police say 42-year-old Amanuel Menghesha of Fairburn shot and killed Green on March 4. Green, a 22-year-veteran of the Fulton County Police Department was responding to a call of shots fired.
 
Menghesha was later arrested and faces murder and aggravated assault charges.
 
Police said officers from numerous local police agencies, as well as officers from Chicago, are expected to participate in a processional.


>>> READ: Mother feels pain of losing officer in line of duty

Fulton County Police Chief Cassandra Jones told Channel 2’s Dave Huddleston they lost a bright and shining light with the murder of Green.

Jones said he was an officer who cared about the community and the people in it.

“He didn't have any strangers in the police department. Some officers have more friendly mannerisms than others and he was one of those officers you could call officer friendly because he was just that type of guy,” Jones said.

She told Huddleston not only did his fellow officers like him, so did many in the community.

"He had a bond with the community to be safe. He was a very good officer. He was a very good patrol officer. He was one of those patrol officers who on a call he might take a while because he's talking to the people."

"He's always speaking to you and stuff. He would help you if he can. He was real nice," said neighbor Linda Sadler. “Boy that's heartbreaking."

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Channel 2’s Aaron Diamant found several police reports that show Menghesha was no stranger to police.

Diamant found half a dozen police calls had been made to Menghesha’s home since August, with various allegations, including aggravated assault to domestic violence.

"I learned to keep my distance," neighbor Dedrick Lindsey told Diamant.

Several residents in the south Fulton County subdivision where Menghesha lives told Diamant they've been afraid of him for months.

"Cops have been here probably about six times," Lindsey said.

Diamant searched Fulton County Superior Court records, and found Menghesha was already out of jail on bond and scheduled to be arraigned next week on two counts of aggravated assault, plus terroristic threats and a gun charge.

In a November 2014 police report, Menghesha's then-fiancé told officers Menghesha was "very intoxicated" and "grabbed his juvenile daughter by her neck and began to strangle her." Then later he tried to strangle his fiancé before he "brandished his handgun," saying "he had a bullet for each one of them."

One neighbor who asked not to be identified showed Diamant the holes in her home that were made, she says, by bullets that came from Menghesha's gun.

"This incident has really kind of shaken me up a little," the neighbor said.

Diamant also found records of a September 2014 battery charge against Menghesha that was later dropped, plus a mug shot from a misdemeanor theft case, in which Menghesha pleaded guilty.

Diamant confirmed Mengesha is a U.S. Army veteran. Neighbors say he told them he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.

A source inside the Department of Veterans Affairs told Diamant that Mengesha had applied for VA benefits, but never scheduled any appointments.

WSBTV

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