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EASTMAN, Ga. (AP) — The Latest on the killing of a police officer in Eastman, Georgia (all times local):
4:55 p.m.
The aunt of a 24-year-old man accused of killing a Georgia police officer says the charges against her nephew are "a plum shock."
Royheem Deeds was arrested Monday in Florida on murder charges in the Saturday slaying of Eastman Patrol Officer Timothy Smith.
Annie Lee Harris, one of Deeds' aunts, said in a phone interview her nephew has previously had legal problems, "but not to the extent of taking somebody's life."
Harris offered condolences to the slain officer's family. She described her nephew as a good person and said: "If he did that, I'm pretty sure he's sorry."
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3:50 p.m.
The father of a slain Georgia police officer says his son was a "country boy with a badge" who never mistreated anyone.
Eastman Patrol Officer Timothy Smith was killed Saturday night while responding to call of a suspicious person with a gun. His father, Glenwood police officer Lewis Smith, said in a phone interview Monday his family's "hearts are just broken."
Lewis Smith said his son worked seven days per week to care for his two young boys and a 5-month-old daughter. He said his son was engaged to be married.
Deputies in Florida early Monday arrested 24-year-old Royheem Delshawn Deeds on a murder warrant in the officer's death. Lewis Smith said he hopes prosecutors seek the death penalty for Deeds.
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3 p.m.
A slain Georgia police officer wasn't wearing body armor when he was fatally shot while responding to a report of a suspicious person armed with a gun.
Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokesman Scott Dutton said Monday Eastman Patrol Officer Tim Smith had been issued an armored vest, but he wasn't wearing it when he was shot once in the torso Saturday night.
Dutton confirmed 30-year-old Smith had been dispatched on a call about a suspicious person with a gun in a residential area of the rural city.
Authorities have charged 24-year-old Royheem Delshawn Deeds with the officer's murder. Deputies in Nassau County, Florida, arrested Deeds early Monday during a traffic stop in which they found him hiding in the trunk of his sister's car.
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2 p.m.
A police chief who employed a slain Georgia officer part-time says he was a "quiet, humble guy" who followed his father into law enforcement.
Eastman Patrol Officer Tim Smith was fatally shot Saturday night after responding to a call about a suspicious person. A suspect, 24-year-old Royheem Delshawn Deeds, was arrested early Monday during a traffic stop in northern Florida.
Randy Rigdon, police chief of the tiny Georgia city of Glenwood, said Monday that 30-year-old Smith worked part-time for his department when he wasn't on duty in Eastman. Besides Rigdon, the town's only full-time officer is Smith's father, Lewis Smith.
Rigdon said the younger Smith may have been quiet, but he was "stern in his abilities to keep the weak from being oppressed."
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10:35 a.m.
A Florida sheriff says a man charged with killing a Georgia police officer over the weekend was arrested after deputies found the suspect hiding in the trunk of his sister's car.
Twenty-four-year-old Royheem Delshawn Deeds was apprehended about 1 a.m. Monday during a traffic stop in Nassau County, Florida. He is charged with murder in the Saturday shooting of 30-year-old Eastman Patrol Officer Tim Smith.
Nassau County Sheriff Bill Leeper said U.S. marshals alerted his department overnight that Deeds might be traveling in a gold Nissan Altima headed for Gainesville, Florida. A deputy spotted the car early Monday and stopped it.
The sheriff says Deeds' sister, 22-year-old Franshawn Deeds, was driving with one passenger, 32-year-old Jamil Marquis Mitchell. Leeper says deputies searched the car and found Royheem Deeds in the trunk.
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This story has been corrected to show the age of the slain officer was 30, instead of 31.
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7:30 a.m.
Authorities in south Georgia say a man accused of fatally shooting a police officer has been arrested.
The Telfair County Sheriff's Office said in a statement on its website that 24-year-old Royheem Delshawn Deeds was in custody. The website of the Nassau County Sheriff's Office in Florida says Deeds was booked into jail just before 3 a.m. Monday.
Authorities say Deeds killed Eastman Patrol Officer Tim Smith about 9:30 p.m. Saturday in a residential area of that city, which is about 60 miles southeast of Macon.
Authorities say the 30-year-old Smith was responding to a suspicious person call when he encountered Deeds, exited his patrol car and was shot.
The sheriff's office statement did not provide any additional details on the arrest, and it wasn't immediately clear whether Deeds has an attorney.
Smith had been with the Eastman Police Department since 2011 and was a father of three.
Smith was white, and Deeds is black.
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This story has been corrected to show the age of the slain officer was 30, instead of 31.
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