Julian Lewis’ family continues ‘March for Justice’ in Savannah

SAVANNAH Ga. (WTOC) - Loved ones of a man shot and killed by a Georgia State trooper last year continue their calls for justice in his death.

They’re taking to the highways and back roads to call attention to their demands.

Family members of Julian Lewis and their supporters are walking from Stoney Pond Road where he died to the U.S. Attorney’s office in Savannah.

Marchers trekked through the mud as they started the journey. Lewis’ son and others paused at the spot where his father was shot after a chase with now-former state trooper Jacob Thompson last August. In June a grand jury chose not to indict Thompson.

“We must continue to stand up and speak up, and speak up louder each time for justice to be seen,” Lewis’ son Brooke Bacon said.

Family members and others still believe Thompson should face trial.

“I want justice for my son...I can’t sleep, can’t rest because my son is on my mind all the time,” Lewis’ mother Lyndsay Milton said.

Marchers stopped at this church cemetery and Lewis’ grave. Local prosecutors can present the case to another grand jury for indictment.

But family attorneys want the U.S. Attorney’s office to get involved.

“A federal investigation, not only into the murder of Julian Lewis, but also into the very grand jury that murdered our hope for a new day in American and in Georgia,” attorney Mawuli Davis said.

They symbolically gathered dirt from Lewis’ grave to give prosecutors when they make it to Savannah early next week.

They say they’ll use each of the 63 miles in the march to call attention to victims of police brutality around the country.

The group kicked off the third leg of the march Saturday afternoon just 29 miles in. Together, with Lewis’ family, the New Georgia Project and Black Voters Matter, they were committed to not letting his son Brook walk one mile alone. They stood next to a funeral home to emphasize the people who are killed each year by police.

“The greatest challenge that we have as a people is that when we feel that we’re in isolation, that we’re injured, that we’re hurt, that we’re in pain... that there’s no one there for us. That’s what allows people’s spirits to break, but our spirit won’t be broken when we have others that will carry the weight and burden of our grief,” said Davis Bozeman Johnson Law Firm Attorney Mawuli Davis.

They will leave Sunday from the law firm to walk the next 12 miles. They hope to discuss the case Monday in Wright Square with the U.S. Attorney.

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