DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A Channel 2 Action News investigation of George Ward's death uncovered information the DeKalb Medical Examiner's office did not know existed. After reviewing video of training that took place a day before Ward's death, officials changed his manner of death from "natural" to "undetermined."
“I have lost faith and hope that I would ever get any answers to what happened to my son,” Ward’s mother Lorraine Fredericks told Channel 2’s Erica Byfield.
“I asked him, ‘Are you sure you want to do that?’” Fredericks recalled. “He said yes he wanted to do it. I said, ‘OK, you have my blessings.’”
The last time Fredericks saw her 29-year-old son alive was on a trip to Atlanta in early May 2013. Ward was living with a cousin while he prepared to move his children and fiancée to Georgia permanently. Fredericks fussed over Ward, asking him if he was sure he wanted to leave his home in the U.S. Virgin Islands to be a jailor for the DeKalb County Sheriff’s office.
Ward had been a corrections officer in St. Thomas for years.
After his second day on the job, Ward was dead.
“I just want to wake up after this nightmare,” Fredericks said. “George, please, I just need to know what happened.”
Videos show intense workout
One source provided a surveillance video showing the early morning events of May 21, 2013 -- Ward's last conscious hours.
From high above a jailhouse courtyard, the surveillance video depicted recruits in formation. They are seen doing a number of activities: wall sits, pushups, jumping jacks. The video also showed a drill sergeant with a video camera.
After pressuring DeKalb County officials about the camcorder footage, Channel 2 Action News received tapes that gave a glimpse into Ward's final hours. At first he struggled to keep up -- then he struggled to breathe.
According to timestamps on the footage, Ward was apparently vomiting nearly thirty minutes into the exercises. There are many moments were he couldn't keep up; he even hunched over while drill sergeants continued to push Ward to perform.
George Ward's signs of distress
Sources told Channel 2 Action News, while on the field, drill instructors told recruits to circle around Ward as he laid on the ground, struggling. Some placed flowers and weeds on Ward -- mocking a funeral scene.
Channel 2 Action News spoke to several current and past DeKalb Sheriff's Office employees who would not go on camera for fear of retaliation from the sheriff's office administration.
There was video of the recruits continuing to exercise until after 10 a.m. The last 30 minutes of activities were not filmed. The last clip of George Ward showed him getting back on the bus. There were two drill instructors helping him walk. Sources and medical records said within minutes of the final video Ward was seizing and unresponsive.
Sources also told Channel 2 that drill instructors did not initially believe Ward was in distress. Ultimately, recruits asked to aid Ward while he struggled on the bus. There were no EMTs present during the morning, but head trainer Major Laura Roscoe did have first-responder training, according to law enforcement records.