19-year-old cleared of charges related to shooting of tow truck driver near metro Atlanta college

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A 19-year-old who spent nearly a month in the Gwinnett County Jail for a shooting near Georgia Gwinnett College that he denied being a part of for months has now been cleared of all criminal charges.

Jamarion Lewis received a letter in the mail last week that stated the aggravated assault charge he faced after a November shooting has been dropped. He says he maintained his innocence before and after his arrest by Lawrenceville police three days after the shooting that injured a tow truck driver.

“They stated publicly I’m a criminal and a menace and I shot somebody which wasn’t true,” said Lewis.

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Lawrenceville police originally charged him with aggravated assault for the shooting on November 7 on Countryside Place. Lewis told them he was at home asleep in Barrow County when the shooting happened. He says he was arrested anyway.

“I was actively trying to get my commercial driver’s license, but when I got arrested all that was on pause,” he said. “Lost my job, lost my car, can’t get my phone back.”

The Winder teen says he let his sister borrow his car in November and she told him she was going out with a friend. The next thing Lewis knew, Lawrenceville police officers were questioning him about why his car was used in a shooting that injured a tow truck driver.

“I told them I was at home,” he said. “I told them my sister had the car and I didn’t know anything else.”

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In a statement, Lawrenceville police said in response:

“Mr. Jamarion Lewis was associated with the vehicle by the registered owner. Mr. Lewis was placed in a photo-line up and was identified by the victim as being the person that shot him. After probable cause was established, Detectives obtained arrest warrants for him. Our Detectives continued investigating the case, and after getting cellphone data back from the phone company, they were able to exonerate Mr. Lewis. After learning of this, Detectives contacted the Gwinnett County District Attorney’s Office and asked them to drop the charges based on new information.”

In December, records show police arrested Habib Zubah, 23, for allegedly shooting the driver. Police also charged Lewis’s sister, Serenity Cooper, with being a party to a crime.

Lewis says the 28 days in jail still haunt him.

“It was rough, I was scared and it was a bad experience,” he said.

Now he’s considering legal action against the police department.

“No sorry, no nothing,” he said. “A month of my life just gone for no reason.”

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Community raises more than $100k for family of beloved bakery owner police say was killed over $50 A Gwinnett community has raised more than $100,000 to help the family of a bakery owner who was shot to death over $50.

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