By Jenna Martin
The Augusta Chronicle
Columbia County sheriff’s Capt. Bill Probus resigned this week after discovering he had inadvertently deleted a voice message requesting a deputy for a Belair Conference Center party where an Augusta teen was fatally shot.
Probus, who ran the sheriff’s office patrol division, resigned Wednesday to pursue a sports-related job about a week after finding out the voice message delivered as an e-mail was deleted before the party, Sheriff Clay Whittle said.
“He just accidentally deleted it along with nine other e-mails, and it was gone,” Whittle said. “He didn’t see it.”
At the March 19 party, James Sterling Gillette Jr., 19, was killed while working at the Grovetown facility for the 16th birthday of the late James Brown’s grandchild. A fight broke out that sent more than 200 people outside, where the shots were fired.
Since the shooting, police have arrested five Augusta residents in connection with the crime. Johndrick Lors Levert Barnes, 20, was charged with murder. Brandon Devon Berry, 17; Morrieo Demetrius Carswell, 17; Jordan Dashawn Harrison, 18; and a 16-year-old boy were all charged with lying to authorities.
An employee of the conference center called Probus on March 15 and left a message asking whether a deputy could attend the event, Whittle said.
Voice messages left for sheriff’s office employees are sent in an e-mail. The recipient can then listen to the message by opening the e-mail.
“Did my accidentally deleting that e-mail have something to do with (my resignation)?” Probus said. “Yeah, but I can’t tell you how much.”
No one from the conference center called the sheriff’s office to confirm that a deputy would be at the party, Whittle said.
“It’s just a mistake all the way around,” he said. “Bottom line, we had a shooting and a person died.”
The employee did call about a week ago to inquire why the deputy didn’t show up, Whittle said.
Information technology staffers found that the message had been deleted with nine other e-mails on the same day it was sent.
“It wasn’t an after-action incident where he tried to cover it up,” Capt. Steve Morris said. “That would have been a whole (different) situation.”
To avoid future confusion, Whittle said, clients requesting deputies at an event will receive a completed form listing the date, time and officer’s name as a way of confirmation.
Though it was deemed an accident, Probus said he still bears some responsibility for the mistake.
“I’m a command staff officer for the sheriff’s office, and this is something that I wish didn’t happen, but it happened,” he said. “Part of me says the honorable thing to do is step away, because I didn’t fulfill what I should have done.”
Probus joined the sheriff’s office in May 1995, Morris said. Before that, he worked for the Augusta Police Department and as a deputy director for a police academy.
His last day on duty will be May 20.
Because of nondisclosure agreements, Probus said he couldn’t discuss the details of his new job.
“I have been pursued for a private-sector position totally out of law enforcement or security since November,” he said. “Things got a little more interesting earlier this year from the standpoint ... of a potential career move.”
Morris said that Probus had no record of disciplinary actions and had 18 commendation letters filed on his behalf.
“We hate to lose him, that’s for sure,” Morris said.
Copyright 2011 Southeastern Newspapers Corporation