ATLANTA — Former Atlanta Police Officer James Burns shot and killed 22-year-old Caine Rogers in 2016 while responding to a suspicious person call.
Late Tuesday, Rogers' father said he was overwhelmed to learn earlier in the day the Georgia Supreme Court upheld a 2018 indictment against Burns charging him with murder for the young man's death.
"Just overwhelmed with joy, it was emotional for me and my family because it has been since 2016 and it has been so many hold-ups and so many appeals," Deravis Thomas said during an interview with 11Alive.
Thomas said his family has been waiting for closure for nearly six years and he replays the details of his son's killing every day.
"I've never stopped thinking about it, from the night that it happened. Every day it is fresh," he said. "When people are mourning we offer our condolences and say the cliche 'time heals all things.' I don't think time might really heal all things."
In August of 2021, Burns' attorney argued before the State Supreme Court to have the indictment against the former APD officer tossed out.
"The general presumption is that the laws apply at the time of the incident. So that is our argument," attorney Marissa Goldberg argued on Burns' behalf.
At the time of Rogers' death, state law allowed police officers during grand jury proceedings to have an attorney present and they could make a statement without being subjected to questioning.
After the shooting, the state law was amended.
Changes to the law meant officers no longer had a right to have an attorney present during grand jury proceedings and if they did make a statement they could then be questioned by prosecutors.
The Fulton County District Attorney's Office applied the amended version of the law to Burns' case when it presented evidence in the case to a grand jury.
On Tuesday, the Georgia Supreme Court issued an opinion that using the amended version of the law, in this case, didn't warrant tossing out the indictment charging Burns.
"We didn't know how this could turn out and at the same time, we knew how this could turn out. That you know it could go either way," Thomas said.
In the 2016 incident, Burns was responding as backup to a call of a suspicious person, possibly breaking into cars, at an apartment complex off of Monroe Drive, when 22-year-old Rogers came upon him in his car.
Burns put his lights and siren on and pulled in front of Rogers' car, but Rogers tried to continue around him. Burns fired a single shot into the passenger side of the car, hitting and killing Rogers.
Initially, Burns allegedly told investigators Rogers tried to run him over with a car, but an internal affairs investigation found Rogers posed no threat to Burns. That investigation described Burns' use of force as excessive.
Dashcam video released in 2020 showed there was no attempt to ram the officer's car head-on or otherwise run him over.
Burns was fired from the Atlanta Police Department and charged with murder.
Now with the indictment upheld by the state's highest court, Thomas hopes the case can finally head to trial nearly six years after his son was killed.
"I pray to God that it is the last major hurdle. Because it has been hurdle after hurdle. We have overcome some that seemed like they were out of reach. So I'm hoping that this is the final hurdle," he said.