Anthony DeJarion Kent, now 20, the Vidalia man facing multiple charges including aggravated assault of  a peace officer and felony obstruction in connection with the April 16, 2024 shooting of a Statesboro police officer, is slated for trial sometime after a July 8 jury selection.

Meanwhile, the Ogeechee Judicial Circuit Public Defender’s Office has requested a gag order, seeking to restrict pretrial communication outside the courtroom.

Advanced Patrol Officer Joey Deloach, whom Kent allegedly shot that night in the parking lot of Copper Beach Townhomes, suffered a life-threatening wound from a bullet that struck the femoral artery in his left leg. After fellow SPD Officer Nicolas Sparks-Hoskins immediately applied a tourniquet to Deloach’s leg, he was rushed to East Georgia Regional Medical Center and then flown to Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah. After multiple surgeries and a nine-day hospital stay, he went home to continue his recovery before returning to active duty last September.

Kent was not brought into the courtroom for the 9 a.m. Thursday, June 26, calendar call at the Bulloch County Judicial Annex, but his case was listed along with a number of other unrelated cases assigned to Superior Court Judge Ronald K. “Ronnie” Thompson as he checked on their status with the various defense attorneys and prosecutors.

Speaking to Thompson, Chief Public Defender Renata Newbill-Jallow at first said she thought Kent’s case was expected to go to jury selection “in the fall,” but added that she had filed a motion she wanted the judge to hear Monday, June 30 – which is on the court calendar as a “motions day” for Thompson. He asked if that motion was “for a gag order,” and she said, “yes, your honor.”

After an unrelated case involving a different, long-jailed defendant was discussed, Thompson said, “We’re definitely going to try those cases,” and asked the attorneys how many days the Kent trial was expected to take. Newbill-Jallow said “probably four, three definitely,” and prosecutors did not disagree.

Chief Assistant District Attorney Jillian Gibson, and also other assistant district attorneys and briefly, District Attorney Robert Busbee were in the courtroom as prosecutors of various cases. Gibson said, and the Bulloch County Clerk of Court’s Office later confirmed, that a jury selection for this trial has been slated for July 8, but Thompson did not indicate whether the trial is expected to begin immediately after jury selection or at some later date.

“State is ready for trial should that be the outcome, but we are unsure what the defense will announce,” Lindsay Gribble, non-attorney chief of staff in the Ogeechee Circuit D.A.’s Office, had stated in a June 23 email after being asked if the case was still listed for Thursday’s calendar call.

Newbill-Jallow indicated Thursday that the defense will also be ready for trial.

Her request for a gag order comes after the D.A.’s Office in May issued a media release stating that Kent had rejected a plea offer. The release did not reveal the terms of that offer.

April 2024 incident

At 10 p.m. on April 16, 2024, the Statesboro Police Department received a call that an unknown person was in the parking lot of Copper Beach Townhomes on Statesboro Place Circle checking cars.

Statesboro Police Chief Mike Broadhead said eight officers initially responded to the scene. He said they set up a perimeter and started walking in to cover the whole lot.

Shortly afterward, Deloach came upon a man in a vehicle.

“He ordered him to come out and show his hands,” Broadhead said last year. “That's when the guy's upper body came out of the car. The gun was in his hand. He turned right at the officer and started shooting.”

Deloach returned fire and the suspect fled, according to previous police statements. The suspect, whom police later identified as Kent, reportedly ran into a wooded area before emerging near Brampton Avenue, where he was taken into custody by SPD officers and Bulloch County Sheriff’s Office deputies.

In early May 2024, a grand jury returned a verdict charging Kent, then just 19, with aggravated assault against a peace officer, felony obstruction of an officer, felony theft by receiving stolen property and two felony counts of entering vehicles. An indictment is not a determination of guilt, but only a finding by a majority of grand jurors that evidence is sufficient for the charges to go to trial.

Later in May 2024, Broadhead issued Sparks-Hoskins the city’s Life Saving Award and Deloach the Police Department’s Medal of Honor and Purple Heart during a City Council meeting.