SHEILA A. MATHEWS :::
D’Marquivius “D.J.” King, a former Griffin Police Officer, has plead guilty to violating his oath of office — a felony — in a case related to the May 9, 2021 murder of Javarires Reid.
King on Monday entered the guilty plea in Spalding County Superior Court before Judge Scott Ballard.
King stood accused of deliberately withholding information that his brother, Damon Beck, was allegedly involved in Reid’s murder, and also failed to report his conflict of interest to superior officers.
The state also alleged King “…did further fail to diligently and timely pursue the investigation of said murder and Damon Beck’s involvement in the murder…”
King was sentenced to five years probation with a two-year time incentive, and will voluntarily surrender his POST law enforcement certification. He agreed not to seek reinstatement of his certification for two years.
King was granted first offender status.
The GBI investigation that lead to King’s arrest was requested by Griffin Judicial Circuit District Attorney Marie Broder after The GRIP published a series of articles detailing King’s cover-up in the Reid murder case.
The GRIP will publish an article with additional information related to this case in the coming days.
The GRIP 
There are a lot of other things going on in Griffin-Spalding County .I’m just curious why this is the only story. The grip has continued to follow in the last maybe six months there’s so many other things we are interested in. I’m hoping you can report on more stories and keep us updated to what’s going on.
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Ronnie, this is Sheila Mathews responding. I’ll be posting an update soon with information on major changes that have occurred in my personal life over the past nine months or so, and how those changes have affected The GRIP. I’ve basically been on hiatus since late 2023, and this is one of only a few stories that have been published. In some ways I’ve missed the work, but in all honesty, in many others, it’s been a relief. The bottom line is that it’s been a rather unexpected time of desperately needed healing from tremendous harm that was inflicted over the course of many years working in Griffin. Anywho, thanks again, Ronnie, for being here tonight, and I’ll get back with more info soon. Take care!