Grand jury indicts man accused in crash that killed Smyrna officer

The man accused of slamming into a patrol car and killing a Smyrna officer has been indicted, according to the Cobb County District Attorney’s Office.

Robert Lorenzo Cox was indicted last week on charges including first-degree vehicular homicide, failure to yield, open container and tampering with evidence. Cox is accused of killing Officer Christopher Ewing, a married father and Air Force veteran, in the April 20, 2020 crash.

Ewing, 34, was on duty when he encountered a suspected drunk driver, police said after the crash. His blue lights and siren were on, but the driver of a Chevrolet Tahoe failed to yield, striking the patrol car, according to the Georgia State Patrol.

Ewing was southbound on South Cobb Drive and the driver of the Tahoe, later identified as Cox, was northbound. When Cox attempted to turn left, he turned into the path of Ewing, the GSP said.

The impact of the collision sent the mangled cruiser into the parking lot of a gas station at the intersection of South Cobb and Oak drives around 11:20 p.m. A gas station employee heard the crash and called 911. Others in the parking lot rushed to try to free the officer but were unsuccessful. Ewing died from his injuries.

After the crash, a witness reported seeing Cox remove two beer bottles from the SUV and throw them into a trash can before emergency crews arrived. Investigating troopers said they verified the witness’ account using surveillance footage.

Cox was arrested after the crash and released from the Cobb jail in July on $100,000 bond.

According to a trooper, one of the beer bottles was opened. Cox was “unsteady on his feet, his eyes were very watery in appearance, and he slurred his speech,” his warrant states. He refused all field sobriety testing.

Ewing was married and had three daughters, according to the police department. After serving 10 years in the Air Force, Ewing had joined the Smyrna PD two years earlier, working the night shift, and had applied to join the DUI task force. His funeral was held at Truist Park and Gov. Brian Kemp was among those in attendance.

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