To stream 13WMAZ on your phone, you need the 13WMAZ app. Example video title will go here for this video Example video title will go here for this video SWAINSBORO, Ga. — A mother rallied protesters outside the Emanuel County Courthouse Monday after her son received a 25-year sentence for shooting an investigator who was serving a search warrant. Me’elle Merrion was sentenced for shooting investigator Dakota Lamb in September 2023. His family calls the shooting a split-second decision based on self-defense and has appealed the conviction, citing racial bias and unfair legal procedure. Tara Green said her son was asleep in a back room when Swainsboro officers arrived to serve a marijuana search warrant on Merrion’s cousin. “He woke up to a banging at the door,” Green said. “It blinded him and he just shot out as like a warning shot and slammed the door back, but he didn’t know that it was an officer.” The family claims body camera footage doesn’t show officers announcing themselves as police. Green said the footage shows officers saying open the door but never identifying themselves as law enforcement. Green said her son was trying to defend himself when he saw what he thought was a
