“Threats Against Law Enforcement and Their Families Will Not Be Tolerated”
MACON, GA — What began as a routine traffic stop ended with a Georgia State Trooper being told, that she and her children would be killed.
The Macon Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office announced today that Marion Lester’s probation has been revoked and a five-year prison sentence has been imposed for those threats, which are a consequence the court and district attorney’s office made clear was both warranted and necessary.
The incident occurred during a stop for a vehicle with no tag and a suspected DUI. After being placed in the Trooper’s vehicle, Lester escalated the encounter rapidly and deliberately. He told the Trooper he would “hunt her down and kill her” and went further, stating that her son and daughter would be “dead, D-E-A-D” — spelling out the word to leave no question about his meaning.
The threats were not impulsive outbursts; they were targeted and directed at a law enforcement officer and her children. At the revocation hearing, the court found that Lester’s conduct required serious consequences.
The presiding judge made perfectly clear that officers performing their duties must be able to do so without fear for themselves or their families, and that threats of this nature would be met with swift and decisive action.
“Our law enforcement officers put on that uniform and report for duty with the expectation that they may face danger,” said District Attorney Anita Howard. “No officer, and certainly no officer’s child, should have to fear for their life because of a traffic stop. Marion Lester chose to use those minutes in that patrol vehicle to terrorize an officer simply doing her job. Actions like this will not be tolerated.”
The Macon Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office remains firmly committed to prosecuting all threats against law enforcement to the fullest extent of the law.