A former Columbus police officer who resigned after being charged with domestic violence was acquitted in Lowndes County Justice Court Tuesday.
Kenyada Blair, 24, was determined not guilty of threatening and attacking a woman who lived with her last September. Justice Court Judge Ron Cooke, who heard the case, said Blair’s alleged victim did not show up at court to testify, despite being served with a subpoena. The only witnesses in the trial were officers with the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office who had responded to Blair’s home the night of the alleged incident.
“The state just didn’t prove their case,” Cooke said.
Randolph Walker, Sr., Blair’s attorney, did not respond to calls from The Dispatch by press time.
Deputies with the LCSO arrested Blair at her Columbus home on Sept. 6 after she allegedly threatened and eventually physically attacked her victim. The victim had deputies listen to a phone recording which she said showed Blair beating on the locked door of a bedroom where the victim was hiding, demanding to be let in and yelling obscenities and insults.
Blair resigned from the Columbus Police Department six days after the alleged incident.
Blair had already been on suspension from the CPD for six months without pay after allegedly getting in a fight in the McDonald’s parking lot last June. Her suspension would have lasted through November.
City officials would not comment on whether Blair is eligible for rehire at the CPD, said City Public Information Officer Joe Dillon, citing a city policy not to discuss personnel matters.
The alleged victim in the domestic violence incident was the person Blair allegedly fought with at the McDonald’s, authorities said.
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