By C1 Staff
McINTYRE, Ga. — The brother of a one of the COs killed two months ago by escaping inmates says he’s not buying what the state found during their investigation.
Sgt. Curtis Billue and Sgt. Christopher Monica were overpowered, disarmed and killed in June by two inmates as they were transporting 33 inmates, the Associated Press reported. The inmates were later discovered by a homeowner in Tennessee and taken back into custody.
DOC Commissioner Greg Dozier told WMAZ that the state’s investigation, which concluded two weeks ago, found security breaches on the inmate bus led to the inmates’ escape.
“They were able to use the alleged toothbrush to supposedly remove the unlocked padlock and enter the chamber of where the officers reside,” Dozier said.
Billue’s brother, Bruce, said he finds it hard to believe the investigators.
“I find it highly impossible — highly inconceivable — that those individuals can remove the lock from the inside of that gate, and penetrate that gate with a toothbrush because of the physical makeup of the lock and the hinge that it was on,” Bruce said.
He thinks the transport of the two inmates, who had a history of breaching and escaping, could have been handled differently.
“I wish to know why those individuals were not transported in a more confined, restricted area,” Bruce said.
For now, he plans to help Curtis’ memory live on by assisting his 94-year-old mom and dad and the two sons Curtis left behind.
“If he was alive today?... I would tell him the same thing that I say now, ‘I’m very proud of you,’” Bruce said.