Policy

Update on the Georgia Pastor Killed by Undercover Narcotics Police

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Last month, I posted about Johnathan Ayers, a pastor in Georgia who was killed by police who confronted him in the parking lot of a convenience store. Police said the target of their investigation was a prostitute who had been in Ayers car shortly before the confrontation. They say they shot Ayers because he struck an officer with his car. The officers who confronted Ayers were in plain clothes, and emerged from a black, unmarked SUV.

Now the woman, who was later arrested on drug charges, is talking. Kayla Barrett, a 26-year-old admitted drug addict, says Ayers had no involvement in drug activity, had tried for several years to help her get her life straightened out, and was helping her get home and pay her rent on the day of his death. She says she isn't a prostitute, has never been charged with that crime, and is refuting insinuation on some comment threads to news stories that Ayers was having an affair with her. Barrett says she'd had a miscarriage 11 days before Ayers was killed, and was "not capable" of sex.

Here's her account of the day Ayers died:

Barrett said Ayers saw her walking from the Exxon station across from the Shell station (where he eventually was shot) back toward Relax Inn, where she and her fiancé were staying.

Since she had experienced a miscarriage 11 days prior and she visibly was having difficulty walking, Barrett said Ayers offered her a ride back to the motel.

"I was in his car for probably about five to seven minutes - and it was probably 20-30 minutes before he got shot," Barrett said.

"When I got in the car, I was telling him about my recent miscarriage," she said.

Barrett said she was paying $30 per day to stay at Relax Inn and, on Sept. 1, was three days behind. Her fiancé, who was staying there with her, had hurt his back and was unable to work, she said.

She said they had been doing "odd jobs" and "yard work" to make money.

Barrett said she asked Ayers if he could help her out with the back rent, and that he gave "all the money he had on him" - $23.

"His last words to me were I didn't owe him anything," Barrett said. "Probably 15-20 minutes after that I could hear the shots."

Giving Barrett the last of his cash would explain why Ayers stopped off at the Exxon ATM in the moments before his death.