By Tracey McManus
The Augusta Chronicle
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Before sending out a cell phone photo that went viral on social media Friday, cellmates of an Augusta man serving time in a Forsyth, Ga., prison called the man’s girlfriend and threatened to harm him if she didn’t immediately send money to his captors, according to the girlfriend’s mother.
Connie Kennedy said her daughter received a phone call from an untraceable number around 8 p.m. Friday in which a man demanded $150 for the safety of Cortez Berry, 18, an inmate at the Burruss Correctional Training Center.
Minutes later, the man called back and demanded $300 but hung up before Kennedy could get the phone from her daughter to ask questions, she said.
Shortly after the calls, Kennedy’s daughter found the cellphone photo on Facebook of Berry beaten and being held captive in a cell.
In the photo, Berry, who turned 18 on Saturday, is shirtless and kneeling on the ground with his left eye swollen shut and two men standing behind him. A rope is tied around his neck like a leash, and one of the men has the end of the rope looped tightly around his hand.
“This beating that Cortez went through, that didn’t happen in five or ten minutes,” Kennedy said in an interview Tuesday. “Where were the guards? How did no one see this happen?”
Georgia Department of Corrections spokesperson Gwendolyn Hogan said the Department is investigating the incident but would not comment about the individuals involved or details of the case.
Demetria Harris, Berry’s mother, said she was not able to speak to her son until Tuesday, but he told her he was moved into protective custody and would likely be transferred to another prison. Harris said Department of Corrections officials have not returned her repeated phone calls, and with the ease of communication among prisoners between facilities, she is not convinced her son will be safe in another prison.
“I’m honestly afraid for his life,” Harris said.
Berry was 14 years old when he was arrested in connection with an Oct. 28, 2011, armed robbery, in which two victims said four males approached them with firearms and demanded money on Dugas Street. According to past Augusta Chronicle reports, the suspects struck one person in the back of the head, stole the keys to a Ford F-150 and fled in the stolen pickup.
Berry was charged with aggravated assault, theft of a motor vehicle and robbery but was sentenced to probation in Juvenile Court.
Harris said Berry’s probation was revoked in November 2013, at age 16, for violating terms and he was ordered to serve the remainder of his eight-year sentence in confinement. He was first sent to Augusta Youth Development Campus and was transferred to the medium security Burress Correctional when he turned 17 last year, Harris said.
Harris said one of Berry’s aunts who lives near Forsyth tried to visit him Friday night but was denied access. She returned Saturday and learned the attack was gang-related and that “seven to eight boys jumped on him and choked him” until he was unconscious, Harris said.
Harris said the Department of Corrections did not contact any family members to inform them about the incident, and Berry told her he has still not received medical treatment for his injured eye.
“He’s a good kid, sometimes they get caught up with the wrong crowd, but he didn’t deserve this,” she said.
In a written statement to The Chronicle, Hogan said cellphones are considered illegal contraband and are prohibited for inmates. To address the “nationwide issue” of cellphones in prison, all facilities in Georgia are equipped with CellSense body scanners that can detect the devices, even if they are powered off, she said.
According to the Federal Communications Commission, contraband cellphones have been used by inmates to arrange murders, to traffic drugs and to manage criminal enterprises.
NBCNews reported that more than 13,500 phones were confiscated in Georgia’s prison system in 2014, which amounts to about a cell phone for every five prisoners.
Kennedy and Harris both said that with the viral online reach of Berry’s assault, he would not be safe at any other facility.
Kennedy said because Berry is incarcerated for violating probation of a crime he allegedly committed as a 14-year-old boy, returning him to probation home in Augusta is the only logical option.
“They could hurt him anywhere he goes,” Kennedy said. “Even if they put him on house arrest, somewhere where he can be protected where he can’t be hurt. I’m worried to death.”