An Atlanta-area police sergeant who marked her promotion only a month earlier has resigned after being arrested on child cruelty charges.
Shada Canzater, 35, who served as a sergeant with the Hapeville Police Department, was taken into custody on August 31 by deputies from the Houston County Sheriff’s Office, WSB-TV reports.
Canzater has been charged with first-degree cruelty to children, aggravated assault and simple assault involving family violence.
Her bond was set at $5,000.
Authorities have not disclosed what allegedly led to the arrest. However, Hapeville Police Chief Bruce M. Hedley said Thursday that Canzater had resigned from the department.
The resignation came just over a month after the Hapeville Police Department announced on Facebook that Canzater had been promoted to sergeant.
‘These promotions represent their dedication, hard work, commitment to professional growth and the trust they have earned from their fellow officers and our community,’ Hedley said in the August 5 post, which also recognized two other newly promoted officers.
‘Leadership is more than a title, it is a commitment to serve, mentor and set the example for others.’
Shada Canzater, 35, a Hapeville Police Department sergeant, was arrested August 31 by Houston County Sheriff’s Office deputies
She faces charges of first-degree child cruelty, aggravated assault and simple assault for family violence
According to Canzater’s Georgia Police Office Standards and Training Council file obtained by 11 Alive, she had been employed at the Hapeville Police Department since May 2019 and had been promoted twice.
She was previously investigated in 2024, and was arrested that year for an incident in which she hit and killed a man in her patrol vehicle one year earlier, but it is unclear whether the internal investigation was related to that incident.
Still, Canzater faced four misdemeanor counts, two of second-degree homicide by vehicle, failure to yield right of way at a crosswalk and failure to yield right of way to a pedestrian, for the crash.
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After several legal delays, a final plea hearing was scheduled for the end of this month.
Affidavits from the incident show Canzater was on duty in a marked patrol car driving along Central Avenue in Atlanta to the Fulton County Courthouse when she stopped at a traffic light on Martin Luther King Jr Drive.
Police said she was the second car in line to turn.
When the light then turned green, the first vehicle reportedly turned – at which time Donell Holiday, 63, a local attorney, was seen on video crossing the street.
The Air Force veteran had been on his way to work at the time, according to an online fundraiser his wife set up to help with his medical expenses.
The news comes just over one month after the Hapeville Police Department shared on Facebook that Canzater had been promoted to sergeant
She was previously arrested in connection with the death of Donell Holiday, 63. He is pictured with his wife, Erica
He was just about two to three feet outside of the crosswalk and had crossed two lanes of traffic when he was struck, according to an affidavit.
It also claimed Holiday waved his hands for Canzater to stop the vehicle moments before the left front headlight hit him.
He was then thrown several feet in the air, hitting his head on the pavement.
Holiday was later rushed to a local hospital, where he underwent brain surgery, but he died on March 8, 2024 – a little over six months after being hit.
Canzater was then arrested in July 2024.