Cortez Berry’s Case: From Prison Beating to Murder Conviction

The Cortez Berry case refers to a Georgia man who drew national attention twice: first in March 2015, when a photograph of him beaten and leashed by fellow inmates was posted to Facebook while he was a teenager in state prison, and again in November 2020, when he was charged in a double murder at an Augusta barbershop. In May 2024, a Richmond County jury convicted Berry on all counts, and he was sentenced to two consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole.

The 2015 Prison Beating and Viral Photo

Berry was first arrested at 14 in connection with an October 2011 armed robbery in Augusta. He was charged with aggravated assault, robbery, and theft of a motor vehicle, and initially received juvenile probation.¹ After his probation was revoked in November 2013, he was ordered to serve the remainder of an eight-year sentence in confinement, moving from the Augusta Youth Development Campus to the Al Burruss Correctional Training Center in Forsyth after he turned 17.²

On March 27, 2015, roughly ten inmates at Al Burruss attacked Berry after he refused to join the Gangsta Disciples gang. According to Berry and his family, the attackers beat him and choked him until he lost consciousness. Using a contraband cellphone, they then photographed him shirtless and kneeling, his left eye swollen shut, with a rope leash around his neck held by a man behind him. The image was posted to Facebook with the caption, “When you disrespect the Nation, it brings nothing but pain and suffering.”³

Before uploading it, the inmates called Berry’s girlfriend from an untraceable phone, demanding first $150 and then $300 for his safety. She discovered the photo online soon after.⁴ When Berry’s family called the prison in a panic, they learned staff did not know the beating had happened. The assault reportedly occurred around 3:15 p.m.; guards did not perform a welfare check on Berry until 9:45 p.m. that night.³

Official Response and Transfer

The photograph spread quickly and drew coverage from national outlets and figures including Reverend Al Sharpton. Vigils were held in Augusta in early April 2015.³ Berry’s mother, Demetria Harris, told reporters the Department of Corrections never contacted her about the assault, did not return her calls, and that her son had not received medical treatment for his injured eye as of the Tuesday after the attack.⁴ She said publicly, “No one deserves this. They’re not being protected. I don’t care what they’re there for, they still need to be protected.”

The Georgia Department of Corrections confirmed that the two supervising officers on duty at the time of the beating resigned, without disclosing their names or any disciplinary steps.⁵ The two inmates identified in the photograph were transferred elsewhere. Berry was placed in protective custody and then moved to Smith State Prison in Glennville, a maximum-security facility that a July 2014 Southern Center for Human Rights report had called “perhaps the most dangerous prison in the state,” citing that 21 percent of Georgia’s prisoner homicides between 2010 and 2014 occurred there.⁶ The department said the move was for his protection. Berry’s aunt, Shavondria Wright, told reporters the family believed the transfer was retaliation for their media cooperation, asking, “What do people serving life care for hurting him?”⁷

Georgia’s Contraband Cellphone Law

Because a smuggled phone made the photograph possible, the case became a reference point in the debate over contraband cellphones in Georgia prisons, an issue the Department of Corrections called a “nationwide issue.” The Georgia legislature introduced HB 874 in early 2016, and the bill was signed into law that May, making smuggling a cellphone into a correctional facility a felony punishable by up to ten years, with two to 20 years for using a contraband phone in gang activity.³

The 2020 Augusta Barbershop Double Homicide

On November 23, 2020, two men were shot and killed at Johnson’s Beauty and Barber Salon on Eve Street in the Harrisburg neighborhood of Augusta. The victims were Meguel Freeman, 48, and Wyman Scott, 34.⁸ Scott was remembered locally as a former male cheerleader at Paine College, a flight attendant, and a mentor in Augusta’s dance community.⁹

Three suspects were charged: Berry, Marquise Harris, and Kazarie Middleton. Berry faced two counts of murder, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, criminal attempt, and a parole violation. Harris and Middleton were charged with two counts of murder, criminal attempted armed robbery, and weapon offenses.⁸

Trial and Verdict

Berry and Middleton went to trial together in Richmond County in May 2024, prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Justin Mullis of the Special Victims Unit. On May 24, 2024, after a week-long trial, the jury found both men guilty on all nine counts of the indictment, including malice murder and felony murder.¹⁰ Harris, the alleged getaway driver, was expected to plead guilty separately.⁸ While awaiting trial, Berry and Harris had also been charged with possessing shanks at the Webster Detention Center.¹¹

Sentencing

On May 31, 2024, Judge Amanda Heath sentenced Berry and Middleton to two consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole for the malice and felony murder convictions. Berry received two additional consecutive five-year sentences for possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. Middleton received two additional consecutive five-year sentences for unlawful possession of a firearm as a convicted felon and a concurrent ten-year sentence for theft by receiving stolen property.¹²

Judge Heath said at sentencing, “It’s a very heavy situation. It’s a situation that sadly we see far too often in our community,” and found the crimes had been committed with malice and “without regard for human life.” Berry’s defense attorney, Jesse Owen, had asked the judge to allow the possibility of parole, arguing, “Life without parole merely warehouses this young man… what we’re asking for is a chance at life.”¹²

Robyn Freeman, the wife of Meguel Freeman, told the court there were “no words to really go with the pain,” said their 12-year-old son missed his father, and asked for the maximum sentence. Herschel Scott, brother of Wyman Scott, said he was “glad to be getting justice after four years.”¹²

Appeal

A case captioned Berry v. The State appears on the Supreme Court of Georgia’s list of 2025 opinions, with an opinion published on March 4, 2025.¹³ The listing confirms Berry pursued an appeal; the substance and outcome of the opinion are not reflected in the available reporting.

1
Augusta Chronicle. Family, Friends of Beaten Inmate Rally for Prison Reform
2
NBC News. Inmate Beating Was on Facebook Before Guards Knew
3
Prison Legal News. Photo of Prisoner Beaten by Georgia Gang Members Posted Online
4
Augusta Chronicle. Augusta Man Shown Beaten, Leashed in Prison Cellphone Photo
5
NBC News. Prison Guards Resign After Viral Beating Photo
6
Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Viral Beating Victim Transferred to Another Prison
7
Chicago Defender. Beaten Inmate on Dog Leash Transferred to More Dangerous Prison
8
WRDW. 2020 Augusta Barbershop Double Slaying Suspects Found Guilty
9
WJBF. Local Dance Community Pays Respects to Wyman Scott Through Dancing
10
WJBF. Two Men Found Guilty in Augusta Barbershop Double Homicide
11
The Augusta Press. Jury Finds Two Guilty of Murder in Harrisburg Barbershop Killings
12
The Augusta Press. Harrisburg Barber Shop Murderers Sentenced for Life
13
Supreme Court of Georgia. 2025 Opinions