Trenton Garner, the Georgia officer who fatally shot baby donkey HeeHaw in August, will not face criminal charges, the district attorney, per CBS News. Tallapoosa Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jaeson Smith said in a November 2 report that Cedartown Officer Trenton Garner reasonably acted to protect another officer during the encounter that killed HeeHaw.
Garner fired one shot at the one-year-old donkey after going into his pasture at the Elsberry Riding and Farm ranch in Rockmart, Georgia, during a search for a missing 12-year-old girl, according to an incident report seen by the New York Post.
Smith’s report reportedly draws on a Georgia Department of Agriculture investigation, witness interviews, dispatch records and body-camera video. It stated that officers backed away as HeeHaw approached, and that the donkey continued toward another officer even after he activated a Taser's electrical arc. HeeHaw got approximately an arm's length away before Garner fired, the report said.
“After a review of Investigator Cruce's entire investigation and all evidence, Garner's actions do not sustain criminal liability," Smith wrote.
What Trenton Garner said
{{/usCountry}}“After a review of Investigator Cruce's entire investigation and all evidence, Garner's actions do not sustain criminal liability," Smith wrote.
What Trenton Garner said
{{/usCountry}}Garner previously claimed that HeeHaw charged at officers as they made their way into the petting zoo after following a trail of footprints, where they came across some horses.
“As we were tacking down the fence line, the horses in the pasture spooked and ran back away from us across the pasture,” Garner said in his report. “At this time, K-9 Handler Thomasson stated that there was a donkey on the side of the hill. The donkey then began to charge at us.”
The K-9 handler grabbed his Taser and aimed at HeeHaw, Garner said.
“This in fact did not deter the donkey, so I removed my department-issued Glock 17 from its holster and pointed it at the donkey. I then fired a single round striking the donkey,” he explained.
HeeHaw then turned around and went up the hill before collapsing.
Garner said that he then reported the shooting to police, following which officers spoke to HeeHaw’s owner Hannah Israel, who “stated that the donkey would never act aggressive towards anyone, nor would it try to bite anyone.”
The missing girl was later found at a church close to the pasture.
Israel has now filed a civil lawsuit accusing officers of entering her fenced pasture without permission or a warrant, and shooting HeeHaw without provocation. The lawsuit is reportedly separate from Smith's criminal review.
Garner urged a federal judge to dismiss the case, claiming he had reason to believe that another officer was in danger. Israel's attorneys later filed a response asking the judge to reject Garner's renewed dismissal request.
The attorneys even challenged Garner's argument that qualified immunity, a legal protection that can shield officers from civil liability, should prevent the lawsuit from proceeding. They cited a 2024 federal appeals court ruling that they believe laid out limits on when officers could shoot domestic animals.
"Nothing in the rule turns on whether the animal barks, meows, or brays. It turns on threat," the filing said.
Israel’s attorneys argued that a jury should determine whether Heehaw posed an immediate danger, urging a judge to let the lawsuit proceed.
A GoFundMe was launched for HeeHaw after his death.