A grand jury on Friday found that an officer-involved shooting in which a Lavonia minister was killed was justified.

Jonathan Paul Ayers, a pastor at the small Shoal Creek Baptist Church, was shot outside a Toccoa convenience store by plainclothes drug agents on Sept. 1. Ayers’ widow, Abby Ayers, lives in Gainesville and has retained a local attorney in the case.

Police said three drug agents tried to block Ayers’ car after he dropped off a woman known to have been involved in illegal drug transactions. They say Ayers backed his car into one agent and another fired at him as he maneuvered his car in a threatening manner.

A Stephens County grand jury began hearing evidence in the case Tuesday and issued a finding Friday afternoon.

"Concerning the actions of the officers involved in the death of Jonathan Ayers on Sept. 1, 2009, we find that the use of deadly force by Agent Billy Shane Harrison was legally justified based upon his objectively reasonable belief that such use of force was necessary to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or others," a statement signed by the grand jurors read. "Based upon this finding, we the Grand Jury believe that the officers involved in this incident would be immune from criminal prosecution pursuant to Official Code of Georgia Annotated 16-3-24.2."

The law cited by the grand jury states in part that a person who uses threats or force in defense of self or others is immune from criminal prosecution.

The grand jury heard testimony from several members of the Mountain Narcotics Criminal Investigation and Suppression Team and had the chance to question the witnesses, including Harrison.

Stephens County District Attorney Brian Rickman and Assistant District Attorney Rick Bridgeman presented the case. The grand jury also heard from Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter and former Stephens County District Attorney Mike Crawford. The two outside prosecutors were asked by Rickman to review the case and talk to the grand jury about the case and the law.

The 18-person grand jury was provided with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s case file on the shooting, which contained more than 1,000 pages, as well as 26 compact discs of interviews, photos and 911 recordings.

Roland Stroberg, the attorney representing Ayers’ widow, said the family was "extremely disappointed," and that a lawsuit would be forthcoming.

"We are in the process of gathering all the facts surrounding this terrible incident," Stroberg said. "Once all these facts are in public view, we feel it will be abundantly clear that there was no legal justification for the undercover drug agent to shoot and kill Jonathan Ayers in broad daylight on the streets of Toccoa, Ga."

Stroberg has been critical of how the case was presented to the grand jury. He said the panel that convened this week was charged with deciding only whether the case should go to a separate grand jury for possible criminal prosecution.

Rickman was unavailable for comment Friday.