Commerce council member no longer faces prosecution

Grand jury declines to indict on felonies.

Commerce City Council member Roshuanda Merritt will not face prosecution for four felony charges brought against her after she initially contacted police for help in a case involving “inappropriate” photos.

A Jackson County grand jury declined to indict Mer- ritt, 43, on April 29, the Jackson County Clerk of Court’s office confirmed Thursday. She faced charges of crim- inal attempt to sell marijuana and use of a telecom- munication facility to facili- tate a felony.

Merritt’s arrest was the culmination of two sepa- rate investigations.

She contacted the Jack- son County Sheriff’s Office late last year about alleged inappropriate photographs of her being posted online via social media.

During the initial investi- gation, Jackson County Sher- iff Janis Mangum said evi- dence indicating a separate crime was discovered. She turned the case over to the Georgia Bureau of Investi- gation, who arrested Mer- ritt. Authorities said Mer- ritt allegedly sent via text message a photograph of four THC-infused gummies packages and asked individ- uals to “let her know if any- one wanted to purchase said gummies.”

The Jackson County Sher- iff’s Office later arrested three people, Frank Lee Sewell, Caquea Sewell Evans and Aisha Genise Pelzer, for allegedly sharing nude images of Merritt.

Sewell was charged with misdemeanor prohibition on nude or sexually explicit electronic transmissions. Evans and Pelzer were charged with misdemeanor party to crime for aiding “in the publishing of nude photos of Merritt against her wishes for the purpose of harassment,” according to arrest warrants filed in Jackson County.

Commerce City Councilwoman Roshuanda Merritt