Pubdate: Wed, 23 Sep 2009 Source: Hartwell Sun, The (GA) Copyright: 2009 The Hartwell Sun Contact: http://www.thehartwellsun.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3320 Authors: Rob Moore and Donald Fraser, The Northeast Georgian Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Jonathan+Ayers WOMAN SPEAKS ABOUT HER ENCOUNTER WITH SLAIN PASTOR The woman who was in the Rev. Jonathan Ayers' car moments before he was shot by undercover drug agents in Toccoa on Sept. 1 is refuting reports that Ayers was involved in illegal activities. "I'm an addict," 26-year-old Kayla Barrett admitted Sept. 15, saying that Ayers was ministering to her on the day of his death. "I've known him awhile - about six or seven years," she said, calling him "a pastor and a friend." She said that, over time, Ayers had been lecturing her and trying to get her to straighten out her life and to get off drugs. "I've been doing drugs for nine years," Barrett said, noting that she is addicted to cocaine - "crack, basically." "He told me I was too young to be living like I was living," she said. "He didn't want me to waste my life." Barrett said Ayers saw her walking from the Exxon station across from the Shell station (where he eventually was shot) back toward Relax Inn, where she and her fiance were staying. Since she had experienced a miscarriage 11 days prior and she visibly was having difficulty walking, Barrett said Ayers offered her a ride back to the motel. "I was in his car for probably about five to seven minutes - and it was probably 20-30 minutes before he got shot," Barrett said. "When I got in the car, I was telling him about my recent miscarriage," she said. Barrett said she was paying $30 per day to stay at Relax Inn and, on Sept. 1, was three days behind. Her fiance, who was staying there with her, had hurt his back and was unable to work, she said. She said they had been doing "odd jobs" and "yard work" to make money. Barrett said she asked Ayers if he could help her out with the back rent, and that he gave "all the money he had on him" - $23. "His last words to me were I didn't owe him anything," Barrett said. "Probably 15-20 minutes after that I could hear the shots." Responding to allegations she has heard, she said, "No, we did not have sex - I'm not capable," referring to her Aug. 22 miscarriage. "He [Ayers] doesn't have any part in any kind of drug activity," Barrett insisted. "He's never solicited me for prostitution. I don't do that." "I've never been charged with prostitution," she said. Barrett said Ayers knew her fiance and stopped to talk to him or her whenever and wherever he saw them and that he had stopped by the motel in the past. "He had been by there before," she said. "He knew my fiance also. I didn't see him very much - about every two months." Barrett, who is charged with two counts of sale of cocaine, doesn't deny that she sold drugs to an undercover agent. "I sold two $50 worth [of cocaine] twice to the agent," she said, but is quick to add, "I've never had any drug charges on my record prior to this." Barrett said she was recruited by the undercover agent to sell drugs to him. "I don't sell no drugs - I do them," Barrett said. Barrett said she didn't learn until Sept. 4 that Ayers was the one who had been shot. "My lawyer had to tell me he was dead," she said. In the meantime, Barrett is out of jail on a $25,100 bond. Her fiance, who was arrested in their motel room on a parole violation after her arrest, remains in jail. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake