The attorneys for the widow of a North Georgia minister who was shot by an undercover officer have notified 12 counties and cities and a joint task force they staff that she plans to sue them in federal court.

The last of the 13 ante litem notices was sent on Jan. 12, so attorneys for Abby Ayers can file the lawsuit Feb. 12. The 30-day notice was given because the federal suit will claim the officers violated state laws -- assault and battery --  when they shot her husband. Ante litem notices are required when a lawsuit is filed against a government entity.

The Rev. Jonathan Ayers, pastor at Shoal Creek Baptist Church in Lavonia, was fatally shot Sept. 1 when he tried to flee a Toccoa convenience store-gas station parking lot after he was  confronted by two plainclothes officers. The officers had just seen Ayers with a woman they planned to arrest later that day for selling crack cocaine. The plainclothes officers, Billy Shane Harrison and Chance Oxner, told investigators they tried to stop Ayers because they suspected, incorrectly, that he may have been her drug supplier.

full article