‘Why was he out?’: Shooting victim questions suspect’s release

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - We’re learning more about the man accused of shooting an Augusta mother in her front yard- in broad daylight.

Deon Hamilton now has another charge of simple battery added to his list of charges in this case.

Last week, we uncovered that Hamilton is no stranger to the courts.

The mother wants to know how Hamilton was out of jail in the first place.

A week after she nearly lost her life, the bullet from this gun forever rests under her tattoo: “Most of life’s greatest lessons are learned through the pain.”

“He took that from me. I can’t drive. I can’t take my son places. I can’t even run after my son, let alone walk after him,” said the mother.

She said the greatest lesson she is learning is to question everything.

“Why was he out with multiple offenses? My child is with me. My child is traumatized. How is this man let out,” asked the mother.

Hamilton is no stranger to the slammer.

In 2018, he was sentenced to 15 years total for assault and a weapon charge. He served four years behind bars and the remainder on probation.

“How can you make sure that men like him don’t get out again? How can we make sure that this doesn’t happen again,” said the mom.

Putting him back on the streets last fall, under someone else’s watch.

But, it seems he violated all of that in July when he was charged with simple battery and family violence.

“Somebody dropped the ball on this man and let him out into the community knowing how dangerous he was,” she said.

Attorney Sam Nicholson said it’s hard to tell if someone dropped the ball.

“It appears he committed a new offense while he was on probation that may possibly cause his probation to be revoked after a probation revocation hearing. That is not clear to me if probation knew about that,” said Nicholson.

Looking at the documents News 12 showed him, he said he doesn’t know how he slipped through the cracks.

“They couldn’t get bonded out on that charge. They would come up flagged okay, you’re on probation, you don’t get to get out and then probation would be notified that we got one of your guys in here. They would then file the petition to revoke his probation. I’m not sure how he got out on that now that I think about it,” said Nicholson.

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