Sheriff Joey Terrell, The Coward of Habersham County

William Norman Grigg
Jul. 02, 2014

After nearly killing baby Bou-Bou, Sheriff Jerry Terrell’s maniacal jackboots immediately moved to cover up their crime, preventing the anguished parents from comforting their shattered 18-month-old, obstructing their view of the crime scene, and lying about what they had just done. Their first priority, as always, was “officer safety,” which includes establishing a cover story immediately.

This isn’t merely a product of the instinctive malice that inspires people to make a career out of law enforcement. It reflects training and preparation. Terrell did his part by arranging a perfunctory “investigation” that must have been completed before news of the atrocity leaked out.

In the weeks since the raid, nobody from Terrell’s office has reached out to Bou-Bou’s parents, or expressed so much as a particle of regret.

Joey Terrell, if you were any part of a man, you would fire every deputy involved in the 3:00 a.m. raid, file criminal charges against them, resign your position, prostrate yourself in sincere repentance before your victims, and exhaust yourself in the effort to raise money to pay for Bou-Bou’s medical treatment. That brave little toddler is immeasurably more of a man than you will ever be. As a sheriff, you are squarely in the tradition of William Hazelrig, Henry Plummer, and David Updyke. Since an appeal to your non-existent sense of honor would avail nothing, I earnestly hope a study of the fate of those three predecessors would prompt you to resign and flee the county you’ve disgraced.