The Georgia officer who shot and killed HeeHaw the donkey will not face criminal charges, the district attorney says. But the donkey's owner is continuing her fight in court.
In a Nov. 2 report, Tallapoosa Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jaeson Smith said Cedartown Officer Trenton Garner reasonably acted to protect another officer during the encounter.
Garner shot the donkey shortly after midnight Aug. 30 while officers were searching for a missing 12-year-old girl in Polk County. The girl was later found safe.
Smith's report draws on a Georgia Department of Agriculture investigation, witness interviews, dispatch records and body-camera video.
According to Smith's review, officers backed away as HeeHaw approached. Another officer activated a Taser's electrical arc, but the donkey continued toward him, getting approximately an arm's length away before Garner fired once.
"After a review of Investigator Cruce's entire investigation and all evidence, Garner's actions do not sustain criminal liability," Smith wrote.
The prosecutor's conclusion differed from an Agriculture Department investigator's assessment that Garner had violated criminal statutes, according to the report. Smith said that assessment omitted information important to evaluating whether the officers reasonably feared injury.
HeeHaw's owner, Hannah Michelle Israel, has said the donkey was gentle and had never behaved aggressively. Smith's report cited other witnesses who described previous aggressive encounters with the animal.
Israel's attorneys challenged the report's findings and the credibility of some witnesses. They also said they learned about the report through news organizations rather than investigators or the district attorney.
"There was simply no justification for HeeHaw to be killed," Israel's attorney Solomon Radner said. "Our battle for accountability will continue."
Israel has filed a civil lawsuit alleging officers entered her fenced pasture without permission or a warrant and shot HeeHaw without provocation. The lawsuit is separate from Smith's criminal review.
Garner has asked a federal judge to dismiss the case, arguing that he reasonably believed another officer was in danger and is protected from liability.
In a response filed Wednesday, Israel's attorneys asked the judge to reject Garner's renewed dismissal request.
Her attorneys argue that HeeHaw approached with his head up and ears forward and showed no signs of aggression. They say the officer nearest the donkey stepped aside without drawing his gun, while Garner aimed for about two seconds before firing without warning.
The filing offers a different interpretation of the body-camera video from the district attorney's report.
Israel's attorneys also challenged Garner's argument that qualified immunity, a legal protection that can shield officers from civil liability, should prevent the lawsuit from proceeding. They cited a 2024 federal appeals court ruling that they argue established limits on when officers may shoot domestic animals.
"Nothing in the rule turns on whether the animal barks, meows, or brays. It turns on threat," the filing states.
Her attorneys argue that whether HeeHaw posed an immediate danger is a question for a jury and are asking the judge to let the lawsuit proceed.
