A Gainesville murder suspect faces more charges after fighting with guards and threatening to throw one of them over a second-floor railing at the Hall County Jail.
DeMarvin Bennett, 25, of East Point, faces three felony charges in connection with the incident on Thursday, August 27.
According to the preliminary investigation, Bennett defied deputies’ orders to return to his cell after getting a drink during lunch. As they tried to escort him back to his cell, Bennett balled up his fists and resisted. “He then lunged at one of the deputies, picked him up and turned toward the top mezzanine railing,” says Hall County Sheriff’s spokesperson Derreck Booth.
An inmate worker, assisting with lunch, intervened and helped the deputy get Bennett on the ground. While on the floor, Bennett attempted to gain control of the deputy’s Taser in an effort to disarm him. A second deputy sprayed Bennett with pepper spray. As she was trying to handcuff him, Bennett “locked one of her legs between his in an attempt to immobilize her,” Booth says. The jailer hit Bennett with her fist and commanded he let her go which, at that point, he did.
In warrants taken out on Bennett after the incident, the male deputy says he believed Bennett was going to throw him over the railing. “It’s 12-feet down to the concrete floor below,” says Booth.
Bennett now faces three felony counts, one for attempting to remove the officer’s weapon and two for obstructing an officer.
Growing rap sheet
Bennett has been in the Hall County jail since February 10, 2019. He was originally arrested and charged with shooting a Gainesville businessman to death during an attempted robbery in a CVS Pharmacy parking lot. Jack Hough, 73, was sitting in his car waiting for his wife at the store off Park Hill Drive when Bennett shot him twice in the torso, according to Gainesville Police.
Since being jailed, Bennett has compiled a hefty record of disruptive and violent behavior, according to officials, including spitting on officers and grabbing them. He even allegedly struck a deputy in the face.
A list of the alleged incidents and the number of charges filed against him is shown below:
- March 18, 2019 – Spat on an officer. (1)
- June 21, 2019 – Broke a sprinkler head on the sprinkler system and spat in an officer’s face. (2)
- Aug. 4, 2019 – Tried to take a deputy to the ground and refused to let the deputy’s legs go. (1)
- Oct. 27, 2019 – Refused lawful commands and resisted. Grabbed the deputy’s vest and struck the deputy in the face. (2)
- March 18, 2020 – Deputy instructed Bennett to return to his cell, and Bennett offered to do violence. (1)
- Aug. 27, 2020 – Refused to return to cell and fought with deputies. (3)
In addition to the original murder charge, online jail records show Bennett now faces a total of eleven charges, including aggravated assault on a peace officer; six counts of obstruction of an officer; reckless conduct by an HIV infected person; interference with government property; and attempted removal of an officer’s weapon.
