Columbus police officer Kenyada Blair engaged in a more than 12-minute anger-driven siege of a locked bedroom before she ultimately physically attacked her alleged victim, evidence authorities shared Tuesday with The Dispatch indicates.
Lowndes County sheriff’s deputies arrested the embattled Blair at her Highway 69 residence at about 1:30 a.m. Sept. 6 and charged her with misdemeanor domestic violence. Columbus city councilmen had already suspended Blair through November without pay for an incident in June where she allegedly fought a female victim in a McDonald’s parking lot while on duty.
On Tuesday, CPD Assistant Chief Fred Shelton told The Dispatch both incidents involved the same victim, though he didn’t offer further information on the victim’s identity.
The night Blair, 24, was arrested, she apparently spent several minutes beating on the closed door of her bedroom and yelling at the alleged victim, who had locked herself in the room and recorded the incident on her phone.
“Open the f****** door!” a voice identified as Blair’s yelled as she pounded on the door. She later added, “No, you’re not going to get any sleep!”
The demand was captured in the victim’s recording with about 12 minutes’ worth of other demands, obscenities and name-calling. In the recording, the voice identified as Blair’s repeatedly calls the alleged victim a “fatty,” “b****” and a “wh***” and demands she leave the house.
After deputies arrived, the alleged victim played the recording for officers, who captured it on body camera footage. The victim told deputies she had gone into the bedroom to avoid Blair attacking her after the two had an argument, according to the incident report.
Once the victim left the bedroom, Blair pushed her from behind and began to fight with her, the report says. The victim had several scratches, including a deep scratch on the right side of her neck. Blair had a bruise beside her right eye.
Chief Deputy Marc Miley on Tuesday released the incident report to The Dispatch and also allowed a reporter access to audio captured from the incident. The department has not yet released a copy of the recording to The Dispatch.
The Dispatch, which had requested access to the recording, listened to about the first five minutes and heard excerpts from later in the incident.
The fight appeared to be over a cell phone charger that was apparently locked in the room with the victim. At one point in the recording, Blair says she needs to get into the room to get the charger.
Police do not have a copy of the cell phone video itself, Miley said, since the audio was captured on body camera footage. The deputy who took the victim’s statement also recorded the audio on his phone.
The recording showed responders Blair was the primary aggressor in the case, Miley said, pointing out the suspect could have walked away at any time.
City officials wait for further action
When the city council suspended Blair this summer, Mayor Robert Smith told The Dispatch the officer was lucky to still have a job with the CPD at all.
The council has not determined what penalty Blair should face at the CPD for her recent arrest.
“At this point, we haven’t made a decision on what we want to go with that because it just happened,” Ward 1 Councilman Gene Taylor said. “We’re still waiting for more information before we make a decision.”
Ward 5 Councilman Stephen Jones said the council’s decision on Blair would likely be based on whether she was found guilty.
“Once (the investigation’s) complete, if she’s proven guilty, it probably won’t come back favorably for her,” Jones said. “But we have to wait and see.”
Ward 4 Councilman Marty Turner said he wants to see what recommendation Police Chief Oscar Lewis makes for Blair.
“I know she was suspended but she was also still employed,” Turner said. “What she does on the clock or off the clock is a representation of (the) city. It was unbecoming of an officer.
“I’d like to hear all the evidence,” he added. “I don’t know if she was provoked.”
Columbus police officers responded to the scene the night of the arrest but contacted LCSO upon realizing the case involved a fellow officer in order to avoid a conflict of interest.
Blair’s court date is Tuesday, Miley said.
Reporter Alex Holloway contributed to this article.
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