‘I’m going to advocate for Keontae and for other people’s children now’: Mother fights for justice and warehouse safety at Amazon facility in Pooler

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - A mother is raising concerns about security at an Amazon warehouse in Pooler.

This comes after her son, Keontae Grider, was shot and killed in the parking lot while on shift in January.

She still has not seen justice for her son, all while she says Amazon’s security isn’t doing enough to save other employees.

Tammy Middleton and her entire family have been mourning the loss of 21-year-old Keontae ever since.

Just over a week ago, she drove straight through the Amazon facility, directly to the parking spot where her son was killed, and took pictures, made phone calls, and no one ever stopped her.

“To me, it’s like a slap in the face. Yeah, you did something, but it’s still not enough,” said Keontae’s mom, Tammy.

Anger, disappointment, and sadness. Middleton says Amazon is not following their upgraded security measures following her son’s death back in January.

Tammy says that January day, Amazon dropped the ball.

“I’m livid because you could clearly see on the cameras when Keontae got murdered that people were walking around the parking lot with guns. I feel like my son would still be living had they had somebody monitoring the cameras,” said Middleton.

Following Keontae’s death, the warehouse on Triple B Road told WTOC they increased security.

A guard booth and security gates can be seen at the front entrance now.

But Tammy says that didn’t stop her from entering the facility just over a week ago.

“Now that he’s dead and gone, you want to quote on quote pull security, but I can get in and make a video of your whole parking lot that that doesn’t sit right with me at all,” said Middleton.

“Me being mom, I just had to go see. I got here, I stopped at the stop sign at the guard shack, and the guy just waved me through. The gates were open. I went and parked next to where Keontae got killed, got out of my car, cleaned off the teddy bears they had out there for his memorial, walked around the parking lot, made a video, took some pictures, talked to some employees, talked on the phone, and nobody said anything to me,” said Middleton.

Tammy says while she still awaits justice in her son’s case, Keontae’s son and daughter miss him every day.

You can hear from Keontae’s parents in a sit-down interview here. There was also a balloon release in his honor.

She hopes raising concerns about the facility can save someone else’s child now.

“I’m going to advocate for Keontae because someone else’s sons, and daughters are working in there and they should be safe. Keontae wasn’t safe, but I want to make sure everybody else’s children who work at South Seven are safe because right now they’re not,” said Middleton.

Amazon sent us the following statement regarding her concerns:

Keontae’s death was a tragedy, and our thoughts remain with his family and loved ones. The safety and security of our employees is our top priority, and we’ve increased security at our Pooler facility and will continue to make improvements moving forward.

Amazon spokesperson

Amazon also sent us the following background information:

• “Currently, the parking lot at our facility in Pooler is only accessible to employees who show their badges to security personnel.
• To facilitate traffic flow during high volume times, like shift change, the gate may remain open during to allow for quicker exits. The vast majority of the day, the parking lot is only accessible to employees who show their badges to security personnel.
• Our facility in Pooler also has security guards who patrol the parking lot hourly.
• You cannot access the building without a badge."

Pooler Police have been on top of this case from the very beginning. Detectives say Dekerius Thompson, Logan Blair, and Matthew Allen stole Keontae’s backpack and shot Keontae.

Blair and Allen were arrested in North Carolina in May.

The 3rd suspect, 23-year-old Dekerius Thompson, is still being held at the Piedmont jail in Virginia, awaiting extradition.

It’s unknown when he will be back in Chatham County.

The three men have already been indicted in Keontae’s murder. You can find that coverage here.

We will continue to follow this story and provide more updates as they become available.