Mother of Georgia state prison shooting victim speaks out

STATESBORO, Ga. (WTOC) - The mother of a woman killed by a Smith State Prison inmate is speaking out about the situation.

Aureon Grace, 24, was working as a food service employee when inmate Jaydrekus Hart shot her before shooting himself on Sunday. Both died, and authorities said the two had some sort of personal relationship.

Grace’s mother, Deshonda Hagins, talked about the tragedy.

Hagins’ family was all around the room during the interview, showing just how many people Aureon’s life touched.

“She was a sister, she was a daughter, she was a mother. She was loved,” said Hagin.

Aureon Grace left behind a large family, including a one-year-old son and a four-year-old daughter.

Her mother said Grace’s kids were her life.

“She would work 11 days straight, 14 days straight, just to make money to make sure she could provide for her kids,” said Hagins.

Hagins said knowing her grandchildren will now grow up without their mom, is heartbreaking.

“He’s only 1 year old, so he’s probably not even going to his mother,” said Hagins.

In the wake of her death, Hagins said she and her family are left looking for answers.

“My child is dead, and it’s no explanation for a firearm to be inside of a prison,” said Hagins. “Why didn’t they search him when he left his dorm, why didn’t they search him before came into the cafeteria? Why was none of those things done?”

Hagins said the prison should have done more to protect her daughter.

“They failed her. You failed her,” said Hagins.

Investigators have released few details about this shooting so far, one of them that Grace and Hart had a relationship.

Grace’s mom said that should not be their focus.

“She still didn’t deserve to die. She still didn’t deserve to leave her two children. Nobody deserves that. I don’t wish this on my worst enemy,” said Hagins.

This is something her mother tells WTOC she never imagined would happen.

She said burying a child is every parent’s nightmare, something she wouldn’t wish on her worst enemy.

After hearing about how her daughter lost her life, she’s now left looking for answers.

Her main question, how did an inmate have access to a gun?

She said with screening protocols across the jail, there is no reason an inmate should ever have a firearm.

She’s also wondering if there was proper security in the room with her daughter when she was shot, and if there was, how did he shoot someone in front of them?

“I hate that this happened to my child, but I’m hoping that they will take heed and pay attention so that it doesn’t happen to anyone else. Nobody else’s mother has to go through getting a call that their child has been killed, or their husband or wife has been killed at work,” said Hagins.

Grace graduated from Statesboro High School.

The school’s assistant principal says “I had the pleasure of teaching math to Aureon her junior year. Aureon had the most beautiful smile. She lit up the room when she walked in.”

Journalists reached out to the Georgia Department of Corrections to find out how and why Hart had a gun inside the prison.

The agency replied that investigation is still ongoing and officials will release more information when they can.

However, the agency did release a statement about an inmate calling an immediate family member after the shooting occurred. It says:

We understand an inmate called an immediate family member using a contraband cell phone immediately after the incident occurred, prior to our staff having the opportunity to assess the scene and determine what had transpired.

The family arrived at the facility before we could them, and at that time, GDC leadership was responding to the scene and advised the family their loved one was deceased but did not have any other details. The call from the contraband cell phone was premature, as the facility staff was working on determining details in order to accurately communicate to the family,

GDC’s Director of Professional Standards was on the phone with the Assistant Director and assisted in providing real-time updates. The family was escorted to a private area of the facility where they were on scene for approximately seven hours and were continually updated as investigators and facility staff were able to determine other details.

The family then requested to have GDC Special Agents come to their home and provide updates. Two Special Agents arrived at the home to provide the information that was known at the time. The family provided information to our Agents as well.

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