Jackson Progress-Argus

Jackson — A former Department of Corrections employee has been indicted on charges related to the August 2011 shooting death of a probation officer at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison outside Jackson.

A Butts County grand jury returned an indictment Jan. 10 against Kevin Smith, of Leesburg, on two counts of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Tiffany Danielle Bishop.

The shooting occurred Aug. 31 at the prison, during what the Department of Corrections said at the time appeared to be an accidental shooting during a routine training exercise. Department of Corrections spokeswoman Kristen Stancil said Bishop, 24, had been with the department since March and worked out of the Rome probation office.

The indictment charges Smith with involuntary manslaughter “while in the commission of the unlawful act of reckless conduct, bringing a loaded weapon inside of a training facility” and “while in the commission of the unlawful act of reckless conduct, pointing a pistol at another.”

Stancil said in an e-mail that Smith was a trainer with the Department of Corrections and was terminated from the department after the incident. Smith had been with the Department of Corrections since May 1992, Stancil said.

Court documents do not list an attorney as representing Smith, who could not be reached for comment by phone on Tuesday.