COBB COUNTY, Ga. — An attorney is offering an explanation for a shirtless man accused of trying to kidnap a child after chasing them around a car at a gas station.
Surveillance footage shows the mother swinging the gas pump at the man to fight him off.
Attorney Khalil Eaddy said no parent or child should experience what happened.
He told Channel 2 Cobb County Bureau Chief Michele Newell the suspect has a history of mental illness.
Eaddy said he isn’t trying to justify what happened but believes this is a case of a mental crisis, based on his 11 years of experience as a defense attorney working with mental health clients.
Investigators said Jerahn Tucker went after the child then opened the car’s backdoor where another child was seated.
Eaddy said Tucker being shirtless and shoeless at the Shell station in the middle of the night is a sign of his mental state.
He says Tucker’s family noticed signs of his mental health over time.
“Speaking to the family, this is something that there was a history of, signs that were coming along but just not treated the proper way, and unfortunately it took for something like this to happen,” the attorney said.
Eaddy says he isn’t focused on fighting the criminal charges, but he is focused on getting doctors to diagnose Tucker as he continues treatment in jail.
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