A fatally injured man, a bloody crime scene and unanswered questions have led Clayton County police to open an internal investigation into its handling of what is now a homicide case.
Ivan Millman, 77, died Aug. 8 in hospice care, nearly two weeks after officers responded to his Ellenwood home after reports of an injured person, Clayton police said Friday in a statement. Millman’s daughter, Gahra Wright, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that she believes the botched investigation has given her father’s killer a weeks-long head start.
Officers had met with Millman and another man, who has not been publicly identified, on July 26 after being called to the home in the 2000 block of Deann Drive. They noticed that Millman was injured and called an ambulance for him.
Police said both men told them that Millman had been attacked somewhere near downtown Atlanta, but they could not provide a specific location. A report was filed about the incident.
Wright said the report she was shown noted that Millman “was in no condition to give a statement.” The AJC has made an open records request for the incident report, which is being processed by Clayton officials.
Wright said her father suffered three strokes and a seizure the night he was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital and was placed on life support, where he remained through Aug. 4, when she had to make the decision to place him in hospice care.
Police did not say if investigators went inside the home when they responded to the initial call, but Wright said no officers entered the house that day.
Then, between that night and Aug. 7, “the Clayton County Police Department did receive several calls in reference to the incident that occurred at the residence,” the police statement said. Wright said that because the initial report mentioned Millman being mugged in Atlanta, she was repeatedly told that Clayton police could not pursue the investigation because it was outside their jurisdiction.
At least one caller, who police did not identify, reported blood was found inside the home July 30. That day, an officer responded to the home again and took photos inside the house, but the suspected crime scene was never officially processed for evidence, police said. According to Wright, an officer sent the photos to her commanding officer and requested a crime scene investigation unit, but the lieutenant denied that request.
“An internal investigation has been launched into why more appropriate measures were not taken at that time,” police confirmed.
Police were called a final time Aug. 7 by a biohazard cleaning crew concerned that the home was a crime scene, the statement said. Wright said she hired the cleaners herself, and the owner of the company “relentlessly called” police until they sent investigators back to the house.
“There was blood everywhere,” Wright said. “In the bathroom, in the bedroom, on the walls, in the kitchen. ... there was just blood everywhere.”
At that point, detectives were able to determine that Millman had been injured inside the house rather than in downtown Atlanta. Wright said the detectives told her that Aug. 7 was the first they had heard of her father’s case. Once they learned the man was in hospice care, the scene was processed, police said. Millman died the next day.
Police said additional details were not available, including if a suspect has been identified.
Wright said she and other members of her family do not know the man who was with her father when police responded July 26. Millman was gay, she said, and his longtime partner had died almost a year earlier.
While she is frustrated with how her father’s case has been handled, Wright said she is also concerned that a violent suspect could be wandering free. She said she contacted Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock about the situation in the hopes of getting more attention for her father’s case.
“They need to be held accountable because, if they’re doing it to my dad, they’ll do it to somebody else. And my biggest thing is, I don’t want another family to go through what I’m going through,” Wright said. “If he did it once, he’ll do it twice.”
About the Author
