Thug Life Army

Family and friends of Marietta resident Paul Johnson plan a march Saturday to demand a federal probe into the 19-year-old's death while in police custody.

A police spokesman said Thursday early indications are that Marietta officers responding to a call about drug sales at a Franklin Road apartment didn''t fatally injure Johnson, who died Tuesday evening in a police holding cell.

Paul Johnson, 19, died Tuesday evening in Marietta police custody.

"The information we have received so far from our investigators, the medical examiner and the district attorney's office leads us to believe that our officers did not contribute to Mr. Johnson's death," said Officer Brian Marshall, spokesman for Marietta police.

Marshall and Mike Cosper, operations manager for the Cobb County medical examiner's office, said preliminary toxicology reports, still awaiting further testing at the GBI Crime Lab, show cocaine and marijuana in Johnson's system.

Marietta police Chief Bobby Moody said Wednesday he had asked Cobb District Attorney Pat Head to investigate his officers'' actions and promised to release a medical report on Johnson's death.

But residents of Glenbrooke Apartments, where Johnson lived, and Johnson's mother said they don''t trust local authorities.

Johnson's mother, Dawn Jackson, called at a Wednesday night vigil for an investigation by federal officials.

Source: The Talking Drum