A former Woodstock police officer pleaded guilty Friday in the shooting death of a man in 2023 and was sentenced in a Cobb County courtroom, officials said.
Grant Matthew Shaw entered a non-negotiated plea to a charge of involuntary manslaughter. He was accused of killing Emmanuel Millard in October 2023 following an attempted traffic stop and chase, investigators had previously said.
Cobb District Attorney’s Office spokeswoman AikWah Leow told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that prosecutors requested a sentence of 10 years, with the first two years to be served in confinement. Leow said the judge “suspended” the sentence, and Shaw was ordered to serve 500 hours of community service.
Shaw was indicted in April for the charge. A grand jury declined to indict him on charges of felony murder and assault, court documents show.
The indictment stated that Shaw, “while in the commission of reckless conduct, an unlawful act, did cause the death of Emmanuel Malik Millard, a human being, without any intention to do so, by pointing a Glock model 34, 9 mm firearm at Emmanuel Malik Millard while his finger was on the trigger, thereby endangering the bodily safety of Emmanuel Malik Millard...”
Shaw began working for Woodstock police in May 2021, according to Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council records. He resigned from the department about a week after the shooting and had no disciplinary history with POST at the time of his resignation.
Credit: Family photo
Credit: Family photo
On Oct. 12, 2023, officers attempted to stop Millard around 10:45 p.m. after a series of traffic offenses, including failure to maintain lane, near the area of Alabama Road, or Ga. 92, and Hames Road, police previously said.
Millard didn’t stop and a pursuit ensued, authorities said. Police were able to stop the gray Hyundai using a PIT maneuver, which caused Millard to crash about five miles away near Alabama and Old Mountain Park roads in Cobb.
“During the attempted arrest of Mr. Millard, an officer discharged his weapon, striking Mr. Millard,” Woodstock police said in a statement at the time.
Two days later, Millard died from his injuries after being shot in the head.
The GBI was the lead agency responsible for the investigation into the officer-involved shooting.
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