HABERSHAM COUNTY, Ga. — Based on Sheriff Joey Terrell’s own statements and information in a search warrant, it appears a confidential informant never entered the home that was raided by a Habersham County SWAT team hours later.
Channel 2 Action News has also learned that no members of law enforcement went into the Cornelia home on May 28, the day of a drug raid that left a toddler in critical condition.
Channel 2's Kerry Kavanaugh spent Thursday digging further into the case and reviewing previous interviews Habersham County Sheriff Joey Terrell gave Channel 2 Action News about the ill-fated drug raid.
Nineteen-month-old Boun Khan Phonesavahn remains in a medically-induced coma after a SWAT team threw a flash-bang grenade into the home where the toddler was staying. It exploded in the toddler's crib inches from his face, authorities said.
From all the information Kavanaugh has been able to gather, she learned no one went into the home the day of the raid, not a single member of law enforcement, including the informant.
The child's family says it is outraged at a lack of surveillance conducted on the home before the SWAT team moved in.
"The door we actually went in, where the (informant) purchased the drugs, is the door we entered," Terrell said May 29 during an interview with Channel 2's Wendy Corona.
"The drug deal was made at the front door of the house?" Corona asked.
"Yes ma'am, the front door," Terrell said.
During the early morning hours of May 28, the team used a flash-bang device as they entered a Cornelia home searching for a suspect.
It landed in a play-pen right next to the sleeping infant. The grenade exploded in his face.
Based on the sheriff's statements and information Kavanaugh uncovered in a search warrant, it appears the team couldn't have known exactly who was inside the home the day of the raid.
"There was not just that one child, but four children at that residence," state Sen. Vincent Fort told Channel 2 Action News.
Community activists, like Fort, say this incident raises serious questions about the standards needed to obtain a no-knock warrant.
According to the search warrant: "The investigator told to the judge an informant, 'was able to purchase a quantity of methamphetamine from their suspect at his residence.'"
The investigator described people "standing guard, heavy traffic in and out," several cars in the driveway-- all observations of what was outside the home, not inside the home.
"So when the CI did the deal, there were no indication there were children. No clothes, no toys," Terrell said.
State and federal authorities say they will now probe how Habersham investigators made that determination.
"It's very disturbing," Fort said.
Kavanaugh called the Sheriff's Office again for comment. It is now directing all calls to the county attorney.
Kavanaugh also called and emailed the county attorney, Donald T. Hunt. In an email to Kavanaugh about her questions she had for him, Hunt said:
"I am sorry but I cannot clarify or verify the comments you made in the attached email. Pursuant to OCGA Section 50-18-72(a), records of law enforcement in any pending investigation or prosecution of criminal of unlawful activity is not subject to disclosure under the Open Records Act EXCEPT for the incident report.<br/> <br/> "If you would like for me to provide a copy of the incident report (two pages plus two page supplementals), I'll be glad to do so.<br/> <br/> "Otherwise, until this underlying criminal matter is no longer pending, there is no additional information about the case that I can provide. We will be glad to provide information about other matters that are<br/> not a part of the criminal case."
The family's attorney told Channel 2 Action News that the child's parents will meet with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation on Monday.
They also said doctors successfully removed the boy's breathing tube Thursday to allow his face to heal.
WSBTV
