Columbus police must replace investigator in Montravious Thomas case, lawyers say

Update: Columbus police close Montravious Thomas investigation after 19 months

Lawyers for the teenager and his mother who filed a $25 million lawsuit against Muscogee County School District officials called for the Columbus Police Department to replace its lead investigator in the criminal case because of a conflict of interest.

Montravious’ lawyers, Forrest Johnson and Renee Tucker, also have filed a motion to add Columbus Police Lt. Consuelo Askew as a defendant in the lawsuit. Askew was MCSD’s part-time security officer at the alternative school where Montravious was sent when he was 13.

On Sept. 12, 2016, a contracted behavior specialist allegedly body-slammed Montravious five times during a confrontation. One month later, his right leg was amputated below the knee.

Montravious’ lawyers said Tuesday that Askew’s conflict of interest is why they haven’t allowed police to interview Montravious or see his medical records. They will grant that permission, they say, if Askew is removed from the investigation.

Also during Tuesday’s news conference, Montravious’ lawyers denied what WLTZ reported last week. Multiple official sources — who weren’t identified — contend that medical evidence could prove Thomas was severely injured before going to school the day of that confrontation, according to WLTZ.

And, Montravious’ lawyers said, they are willing to release the classroom video that shows the confrontation in the classroom.

The case file shows Montravious is scheduled to be deposed April 17 in the Aaron Cohn Regional Youth Detention Center. Montravious’ lawyers declined to say why he is in the RYDC. They denied the WLTZ report that cited unnamed “law enforcement sources close to the investigation” as saying he is being held at that facility for allegedly stealing a car.

Johnson called the WLTZ report “fake news”, “totally inaccurate” and “totally irresponsible.”

According to court records and documents from the Georgia Professional Standards Commission, Montravious was attending his first day at the alternative school in the Edgewood Student Services Center when he tried to leave the classroom but was restrained by Bryant Mosley, a contracted behavior specialist then employed by Mentoring & Behavioral Services of Columbus.

Montravious couldn’t have walked into the classroom that day if he had an injury that required amputation a month later, Johnson asserted.

“It is unfortunate that this information is being spread or disseminated without any factual basis,” Johnson said.

Montravious wasn’t involved in a car wreck and didn’t injure his leg before the incident at the alternative school, Johnson said. “It does not exist,” he said.

Johnson considers questions about Montravious’ troubled background an attempt to label him as a “kid who is so dysfunctional and that dysfunction led to the amputation of his leg, and therefore he must have been responsible for his own issues or his own injury — which is just nuts.”

Tucker said Askew admitted CPD already obtained Montravious’ medical records without his mother’s permission by filing a subpoena.

More than an hour after the alleged body-slamming, according to the personal injury civil lawsuit, Mosley picked up Thomas and carried him out of the classroom. Leaked surveillance video shows Mosley carrying Montravious to the school bus.

On Oct. 18, 2016, Montravious’ right leg was amputated below the knee in Atlanta.

Valerie Fuller, MCSD’s communications director at the time, released a statement then saying “witnesses indicate that the child was up and walking and not in distress following the administered restraint.”

On March 13, 2017, Montravious’ mother, Lawanda Thomas, sued the school district and the other defendants in state court, seeking $25 million in damages and costs.

A year later, State Court Judge Ben Richardson granted the plaintiffs’ motion to drop MCSD from the lawsuit after Montravious’ lawyers determined the rare exceptions to the school district’s sovereign immunity most likely didn’t exist.

Along with Mosley and MBS, five school district employees, including Superintendent David F. Lewis, remain as defendants in their individual capacities.

Askew not only has a conflict of interest as a part-time MCSD employee, Johnson said, but she was a “participant and a witness” in the incident.

“She was there,” he said. “She was on the video. ... We just don’t believe that she can be fair and impartial, and we don’t think that she can conduct an investigation which brings out the facts.”

Asked why Montravious’ lawyers want to add Askew as a defendant more than a year after they filed the lawsuit, Johnson said, “We felt that we wanted to try to cooperate with the Columbus Police Department, but it became pretty obvious to us that Lt. Askew failed to do certain things that she should have done as a resource officer.”

Tucker said Askew failed to immediately investigate Montravious’ injury and failed to render aid that day.

In an April 6 addressed letter to Columbus Mayor Teresa Tomlinson and Columbus Police Chief Ricky Boren, and copied to Muscogee County District Attorney Julia Slater and the Georgia Attorney General, Tucker asked them to “accept the validity of the identified conflict of interest and allow an outside agency, like the GBI, to conduct an investigation into the September 12, 2016, event.”

The Ledger-Enquirer asked Tomlinson, Boren and Slater for their responses to the letter from Tucker. Via email, they declined to comment.

Slater said, “Because the statements and questions in your email relate primarily to the Columbus Police Department I have no comment in reaction to them.”

Tomlinson said, “Because this matter is in court and there are apparently allegations being made about CCG or its employees, the Chief and I will need to refer your inquiry to our lawyers.”

Boren said, “Being that Lt. Consuelo Askew is being added to the lawsuit as a defendant, myself nor Lt. Askew will be interviewed in reference to her investigation. From this time until the conclusion of the lawsuit, I will forward all media requests to the City Attorney, Clifton Fay, or Jim Clark with the Law Office of Page, Scrantom, Sprouse, Tucker and Ford.”

The Ledger-Enquirer is seeking a response from the city’s lawyers.

In August 2017, four MCSD board members also called for the GBI to investigate the case. Slater made such a request in December 2016, but the GBI declined to get involved.

If another officer replaces Askew on the case, Johnson said, “we’ll be more than happy to provide that detective with all the information necessary.”

Montravious’ mother, Lawanda Thomas, also spoke during the news conference. She said she expected MCSD to take care of her son, “but he definitely wasn’t.”

Her son, now 15, is “up and down,” she said. “Some days he’s sad; some days he’s not. But he’s a tough boy.”

Citing privacy laws, MCSD has refused the Ledger-Enquirer’s request to release the classroom video. In January, the Ledger-Enquirer filed a lawsuit demanding MCSD release the classroom surveillance video. The case is pending in Muscogee County Superior Court.

This story was originally published April 10, 2018 at 12:11 PM with the headline "Columbus police must replace investigator in Montravious Thomas case, lawyers say."