Black Georgia Family Accuses Police of Shielding White Driver Who Killed 7-Year-Old Boy While Prosecutor Declines Homicide Charge

Dalton Cason, a 26-year-old white man, was driving under the influence of fentanyl and cocaine when he struck and killed 7-year-old Logan Sharpe in Georgia last year. Despite a toxicology report confirming this, prosecutors refused to charge him with vehicular homicide. “It’s a slap in our face because they have the evidence and everything they need to charge Dalton with vehicular homicide, but they won’t do it,” said Logan’s mother, Shaunte Sharpe. She added, “Like my son’s life didn’t matter.” The charges only emerged after the family went public on social media, leading to Cason’s eventual misdemeanor DUI arrest—nine months after the incident and three months after the test results were finalized.

Witness accounts contradicted the initial police report by Trooper Chase Middleton, who had stated that Logan was standing in the street, while multiple signed statements confirmed that the boy was on the sidewalk when struck. Witnesses, including Logan’s brother Keisean, described seeing the truck drive onto the sidewalk. Middleton’s report also failed to include statements from the children playing with Logan that day. Complicating matters further, Middleton, whose wife is Facebook friends with Cason, turned off his body camera during the investigation. “The cops were standing right there, letting them remove stuff from his truck,” a relative said. Additionally, Cason moved his vehicle before investigators arrived, compromising the crash scene.

Shaunte Sharpe recalled how her oldest son ran into the house in a panic, shouting, “Logan just got hit.” When she arrived, she found Logan lifeless in the street. “I run straight to Logan and I’m screaming,” she said. “He had a gash on his head, his arm was broke, there was vomit and a little bit of blood on the road, his hip was split.” Despite his family’s presence, Cason never apologized or even looked at her, she said.

The blood test results showed positive for fentanyl, cocaine, and benzoylecgonine, but the family fears the evidence will be destroyed soon. “The fine print at the bottom of the toxicology report says they can discard those specimens because it’s been a year,” said Amaka Imamu from Journey Black Foundation. Comparing the case to Ahmaud Arbery’s, Logan’s family insists that justice is long overdue. “I just want justice,” Shaunte Sharpe said. “I just want Dalton to be held accountable because he knows what he done was wrong.”

Link: Atlanta Black Star