The Atlanta Police Department released preliminary findings into the death of a man who died after city workers cleared a homeless encampment before the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend.
But an attorney for Cornelius Taylor’s surviving family members says they are “shocked and disappointed” by the findings.
Mawuli Davis, the civil rights attorney representing Taylor’s family, called the report “inconsistent” with what his law firm had discovered after talking to witnesses and visiting the scene. He suggested the preliminarily findings played down Taylor’s injuries.
According to witnesses, an Atlanta Department of Public Works construction vehicle struck Taylor while he was in his tent on Jan. 16. At the time, police did not reveal the exact circumstances surrounding Taylor’s death because of an ongoing investigation by the homicide unit.
In an incident report released late Monday, a police officer who was at the camp to assist workers at around 11:30 a.m. described how he saw an “earth-moving machine” sweep up some debris and trash.
After the driver backed up, police officer Jonathan Allen said he walked down the sidewalk to spread ashes from a burn barrel and found Taylor waving in distress from beneath a collapsed tent.
Allen said he pulled Taylor out of the tent and said he had a bloody nose but did not observe any other physical injuries. Taylor said he had felt something fall on him, and after Allen helped him out of the tent, the officer said that he “declined quickly.”
“I was unable to get much more out of him. His breathing decreased, and he was emitting a foam out of his mouth,” Allen wrote, adding that he stayed with Taylor until an ambulance arrived and took him to Grady Memorial Hospital.
Allen said he rubbed the center of Taylor’s chest bone, presumably to determine if he was conscious, and checked for his pulse. According to officials, Taylor was pronounced dead at the hospital. Allen states that he was at the camp to protect city workers, because they have been attacked by homeless people in the past.
The police report states that a witness said Taylor had used crack cocaine earlier in the morning. The report states an overdose was suspected. However, the report notes that no drugs were found at the scene and there was no description of drug paraphernalia.
In an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Davis pushed back against the findings.
“The distress that Mr. Taylor was in was a result of him being crushed, rolled upon, impacted by the heavy equipment from the city of Atlanta,” Davis said. “And so for it to be described as a bloody nose and that was the extent of his injury is shocking because we went out and observed his blood — large amounts of his blood still in his tent two days after his death.”
Police department spokeswoman Sgt. Tasheena Brown did not respond to Davis’ allegations but clarified that the initial incident report by the officer on scene was not a death investigation report, which she said detectives are handling.
“The investigation is still open and ongoing at this time,” Brown wrote in a statement.
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Davis described Taylor’s family as being “shocked and disappointed” by the findings in the report. He added that his firm, Davis Bozeman Johnson, was demanding the release of any existing police body camera footage to the family before it is made public.
The death at the camp sparked outcry among homeless and housing advocates, raising concerns about the city’s homeless strategy and the safeguards it has in place to protect unhoused people during encampment clearings.
This past Friday, Mayor Andre Dickens announced his support for a moratorium on the sweeps and said he would support legislation for a full review of city policies and procedures for camp closures. He described the death as a “tragic accident.”
“I’ve spoken to a number of Mr. Taylor’s family members and expressed my condolences and discussed the next steps,” Dickens said Friday. “I am deeply saddened by this incident, and my heart goes out to all who knew and loved him. But more than that, my heart breaks for every Atlantan without a roof over their heads.”
Partners for HOME, which coordinates the city’s homeless strategy, is in favor of a temporary pause in the clearings. It said its case managers had been reaching out to people at the Old Wheat Street encampment since April 2024 to provide access to homeless services, shelter and housing.
“Since June, outreach teams have identified a total of 30 individuals who have resided in the encampment over time,” Partners for HOME CEO Cathryn Vassell said in a statement. “In June 2024, outreach partners supported 11 individuals to move to emergency shelter, and in January 2025, outreach partners supported 10 individuals to move into shelter, one individual to move into permanent housing, and one whose housing placement is imminent.”
Vassell said Atlanta nonprofit SafeHouse Outreach had people at the site on Old Wheat Street the day Taylor died.
On Monday, the Davis Bozeman Johnson firm announced a public viewing for Taylor on Feb. 2. It will be held at 2 p.m., at Willie A. Watkins Funeral Home, at 1003 Ralph David Abernathy Blvd. SW in Atlanta.
A funeral service will follow Feb. 3 at 11 a.m. at Ebenezer Baptist Church, located at 101 Jackson St. NE in Atlanta.
In a statement, family members said Taylor had just found a new job and was “looking forward to a fresh start.” There is an “urgent need” for systemic changes to ensure people without homes are protected, the family said.
“Cornelius was a cherished son, brother, uncle, and father. We sincerely hope that the Atlanta community will join us in honoring his memory and supporting the unhoused community he was a part of by attending his home-going services. We pray that the city he loved will show him the love and dignity in death that he did not always receive in life,” said Taylor’s cousin, Darlene Chaney.
The family said it had created a funeral fund and was accepting donations online. People can also drop off donations at Watkins Historic West End Chapel, located at 1003 Ralph David Abernathy Blvd. in Atlanta.
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
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