Man declared not guilty by reason of insanity for 2023 shooting in East Dublin trailer park

A Dublin superior court judge ruled that a man did not know right from wrong when he fired shots in trailer park and injured a police officer in January 2023.  

David Jermaine Fountain was declared not guilty by reason of insanity by Judge Jud Green Thursday for the shooting at the Ponderosa trailer park in East Dublin. Chief Assistant District Attorney Kelly Weathers said Fountain had a series of evaluations with doctors who told her and his attorney Floyd Buford that the defendant was not criminally responsible.

“When I got the case and was looking at the evidence, I realized there were clear indicators that he was operating under a persistent illusion,” Weathers said. “He saw things that were not there and reacted to them in a manner that might be construed as self defense or defense of others. In Georgia, your criminal culpability requires that you know the difference between right and wrong. We cannot hold people criminally responsible if, because of an organic condition, they are hallucinating things and react to them in a way that if the hallucinations were true would actually be lawful acts.”

Doctors recently declared that Fountain was not criminally responsible.

“I agreed with the assessment,” Weathers said. “When somebody is civilly committed, they basically become the ward of the department of behavioral health. He will be under their supervision and care for the rest of his life.” 

Fountain served in the military and has PTSD from a tour in Afghanistan.

“He went out on patrol for sometimes 20 days straight,” Buford said. “He got into vicious fire fights. He earned a bronze star and served this country with great distinction. I always felt he was an American hero. He came back like so many (soldiers) with a lot of problems.” 

Buford and Green thanked the state for their work in this case. 

“I think this (outcome) is appropriate,” the judge said. “I applaud Mrs. Weathers for going above and beyond on this. I am satisfied that (Fountain) was insane at the time of the crime.”

Fountain was originally charged with one count of aggravated assault on a peace officer and one count of aggravated assault. On Jan. 30, 2023, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation responded to an officer involved shooting in the Ponderosa Trailer Park on Corbett Street. The investigation revealed that Fountain lived in Lot 18 and had been shooting at mobile homes inside the trailer park before the officer arrived near Lot 18. The officer got out of his vehicle and was immediately shot by Fountain. The officer returned fire, hitting Fountain. 

Weathers was glad no one was seriously injured in this incident.

“The officer exercised tremendous restraint in not shooting and killing (Fountain),” she said. “It was truly by the grace of God that the officer did not get shot in a more significant way.” 

People who lived at the trailer park informed law enforcement and the DAs office that they had never had any problems with Fountain, who is expected to go to Central State Hospital where he will receive another evaluation. Weathers believes they will receive an official opinion that Fountain needs to be classified as an inpatient commitment.

“I have every expectation that this is what they’ll conclude based on the history and severity of what he did,” she said. “Every year for the rest of his life he will come back once a year. The department has an obligation to give the judge a report of how his last year of his commitment and treatment has been and rather he has been compliant or non-compliant. Every year, the department will make a recommendation to maintain him at the hospital or to a secured apartment where he cannot leave. This is sort of a more humane way that we deal with people who have real mental health issues and are the reason they acted in a criminal manner.”  

Weathers said the DAs office will receive reports from the department. If they ever recommend Fountain to be let go, the DAs office will refute it.

“My objective is to keep him in a secure mental health facility,” Weathers said. “If he had been convicted, he would have been looking at spending the rest of his life in prison.”