After hearing from attorneys on both sides, from the victim, from two witnesses asking for mercy and from Kent himself, Judge Ronald K. “Ronnie” Thompson on Friday afternoon sentenced Anthony DeJarion Kent to 30 consecutive years in prison plus five on probation for shooting Statesboro Police Officer Joey Deloach and other crimes that Kent committed on April 16, 2024.

Kent, now 20, from Vidalia, had entered “open-ended” guilty pleas to all five charges against him on July 8, also before Thompson in Bulloch County Superior Court. Thompson then scheduled the sentencing hearing for 10 days later. It was originally slated for 9 a.m., but postponed, with notification the previous day, to 3 p.m. Friday. It lasted two hours.

Those charges were aggravated assault against a peace officer, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years and a maximum of 20 years; two counts of felony entering automobiles, each with a maximum sentence of five years; theft by receiving a stolen gun, for which the maximum sentence is 10 years; and felony obstruction of an officer, for which the maximum is five years, but which merged into the aggravated assault charge.

District Attorney Robert Busbee of the Ogeechee Judicial Circuit requested that Kent receive a total sentence or 40 years, including 30 to serve in prison and 10 on probation, and to be banished from the circuit, which includes Bulloch, Effingham, Jenkins and Screven counties. His only witness was Deloach, whose testimony was accompanied by his and fellow officers’ body-worn camera video of the exchange of gunfire with Kent that April night in a parking lot at Copper Beech Townhomes on Statesboro Place Circle and its aftermath. Deloach was hit by three bullets in his left leg and one in his left arm. The prosecution also showed police video of Deloach’s arrival at the hospital and photos and X-rays of his injuries.

Officer nearly died

Medical professionals who treated Deloach had told him he would probably have died if a fellow officer hadn’t immediately applied a tourniquet or if it had taken much longer to get to the hospital. He testified that they told him he lost 50% to 60% of his blood by the time a transfusion began at the emergency room.

After multiple surgeries and recovery, he was able to return to full duty before 2024 ended and says he has “no restrictions” but still experiences partial loss of feeling in his hand and leg.

The circuit’s Chief Public Defender Renata Newbill-Jallow argued passionately that Kent, who was only 19 at the time of the crimes and had no previous adult convictions, should get the mandatory minimum 10 years to serve in prison – acknowledging that the judge could not reduce or probate that – but that any additional time should be served on probation. She pressed for this with some supporting argument by Public Defender Kirk Cheney, as well as testimony from Kent’s mother, Charissa Yvonne Allen of Toombs County, and from a Georgia Southern assistant professor of Public and Nonprofit studies, Kristina Patterson, Ph.D., who provided an estimate that incarcerating Kent for 15 years instead of the maximum would save the state $404,010 in direct costs, and said that could yield $1.2 million to $3.2 million savings for the community if invested in programs for at-risk and system-involved youth.

Kent spoke to court

Kent also spoke very briefly. His comments were not testimony, Thompson noted, but a standard opportunity to say anything he wanted to the court before sentencing.

“I just want to say that I sincerely apologize to Mr. Deloach and his family for the things I’ve done to him, and other things I have done to them and the tragic moments I done to his family, but at the time I didn’t  know what I was doing, at the time I didn’t know who  he  was at the time and I was just trying to defend myself just  like anybody in this courtroom would defend their self, defend their life because they love their life,” Kent said.

He had been armed with a stolen handgun, in the open door of one of the cars he entered illegally, when Deloach, a uniformed officer, approached him with a flashlight and his police handgun and yelled for Kent to show  his  hands and get on the ground.

The public defenders had suggested that Kent should receive “youthful offender” treatment, with an emphasis on education – he dropped out of school in ninth grade – and counseling. During his mother’s testimony, the defense attorneys introduced a psychologist’s evaluation of Kent when he was in eighth grade, showing he was recommended for counseling and treatment. But this document also indicated that he had been involved with the Department of Juvenile Justice, had fought with another youth whose head hit a wall and caused him to be taken to a hospital, and had stolen something – Busbee said a firearm – from his mother.

Thompson told the defenders he was “not inclined” to accept their suggestion that Kent receive “youthful offender” treatment. But he did make Kent earning a GED a requirement for his eventual probation and advised him to learn a trade.

“When the court gets a problem, most of the bad things have already happened, and then we just make it worse, you know, depending on your perspective, by sending people to prison, but sometimes that’s all we can do,” Thompson said, in extended remarks about how the courts are limited in what they can do in relation to social work, mental health care or education. “Mr. Kent does deserve mercy, but there’s only so much mercy this court can show.”

Defender asked mercy

Mercy had been the theme of Newbill-Jallow’s remarks earlier in the hearing.

“Judge, at the end, what my client is going to be asking, what his mother is asking, judge, is actually mercy. …,” she said. “Mercy is not the absence of accountability; it’s the presence of humanity.”

But the district attorney protested that that the defenders were trying to make Kent the sole focus of concern.

“What I see is the defense trying to get the court to focus on the defendant and feel pity for him and feel concern for him, instead of concern for the victim in this case, one of our law enforcement officers who, night after night, goes out there like he did in April of 2024 and puts his life on the line for us,” Busbee said. “It does not show any concern for the public and our family members, who may have the misfortune of running across Mr. Kent one day in the future when he gets out of prison.”

Before passing sentence, Thompson noted that Kent could become eligible for parole. In addition to the 30 consecutive years prison and five on probation, the sentence includes a state-mandated $2,000 fine, but not the banishment Busbee requested. Technically, the sentence totals 40 years, but one of the two five-year sentences for entering auto is set to run concurrently with the 20 years for aggravated assault of a peace officer. The sentences on the other charges run end-to-end. The five years probation is half of the 10-year sentence for theft by receiving a stolen gun.

After the judge explained the sentence, Cheney announced that an appeal will be filed with the Georgia Court of Appeals within 30 days.

He plans to appeal “because the harshness of the sentence does not reflect the crime that was committed,” Cheney told the Statesboro Herald. “This case was all about local politics.”

In a brief media release from the D.A.’s Office, Busbee indicated he was satisfied with the sentence.

“I appreciate Judge Thompson for recognizing the seriousness of this case and delivering a sentence that sends a clear message: violence against law enforcement will not be tolerated,” Busbee said. “I was proud to stand in court for Officer DeLoach, the Statesboro Police Department, and our community.”