These 15 Black Women Were Killed During Police Encounters. Their Lives Matter, Too
Posted: 02/13/2015 7:30 am EST Updated: 02/13/2015 4:59 pm EST
www.huffingtonpost.com/.../black-womens-lives-matter-police-shootings_n_6644276.html
Tanisha Anderson
Died Nov. 13, 2014, age 37, Cleveland
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As noted above, a medical examiner ruled Anderson’s death a homicide, the result of being
“physically restrained in a prone position by Cleveland police." Her heart condition and bipolar disorder were also considered factors.
Yvette Smith
Died Feb. 16, 2014, age 47, Bastrop, Texas
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A year ago,
Yvette Smith was fatally shot when Bastrop County Sheriff's Deputy Daniel Willis responded to a 911 call about a fight between several men at a residence, according to KXAN. At the scene, authorities say,
Willis ordered Smith to come out of the house then shot her twice when she stepped through the doorway. An original statement that claimed Smith was armed was retracted by police officials.
Miriam Carey
Died Oct. 3, 2013, age 34, Washington, D.C.
Miriam Carey's mother, Idella Carey, and Charles Barron protest Carey's death on the West Front of the Capitol, October 3, 2014. Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call
U.S. Secret Service and Capitol Police officers fatally shot Miriam Carey in a car chase after she drove her car into a security checkpoint near the White House, refusing orders to stop. Officers fired multiple shots at Carey, a dental hygienist from Connecticut,
hitting her five times.
Shelly Frey
Died Dec. 6, 2012, age 27, Houston
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Shelly Frey
was killed after she and two other women were allegedly caught stealing from a Walmart in 2012, the Houston Chronicle reports. Louis Campbell, an off-duty sheriff’s deputy working as a security guard, tried to detain them and then shot into a car in which Frey was a passenger. She was struck twice in the neck.
Darnisha Harris
Died Dec. 2, 2012, age 16, Breaux Bridge, Louisiana
Darnisha Harris was 16 when Breaux Bridge Police Officer Travis Guillot
fired two shots into the car she was driving. Guillot and two other officers were responding to a 911 call about an outdoor fight. According to the Advocate of Baton Rouge, they saw Harris driving erratically, hitting parked cars and a bystander before Guillot opened fire.
Harris was
on probation for battery on a police officer and violating a court-ordered curfew when she died, according to the Advocate.
Guillot was previously accused of misconduct while working at three different law enforcement agencies, according to KATC of Lafayette, Louisiana. The incidents include shooting a dog while on patrol, allegedly fondling female inmates and alleged improper treatment of an inmate who died of cocaine intoxication while in custody. A lawsuit regarding the latter allegation was settled out of court.
A grand jury
declined to indict Guillot.
Malissa Williams
Died Nov. 29, 2012, age 30, Cleveland
Cleveland Police Department/AP
Malissa Williams was a passenger in a car driven by a man named Timothy Russell when
a police officer thought he heard shots fired from the vehicle and began following them, according to the Associated Press.
A 25-minute chase through Cleveland ended with 13 officers
firing 137 rounds at the car, which was eventually cornered in a school parking lot. Twenty-three bullets struck Russell, and 24 hit Williams. They were both killed.
Alesia Thomas
Died July 22, 2012, age 35, Los Angeles
Damian Dovarganes/AP
Alesia Thomas was arrested at her home
on suspicion of child endangerment after she left her children at a police station because she couldn't care for them. A struggle with Los Angeles Police Officer Mary O'Callaghan and several other officers ensued; while putting a handcuffed Thomas in a squad car, prosecutors said O'Callaghan threatened to kick Thomas in the genitals and then
did so seven times, hitting her in the groin, abdomen and thigh.
Shantel Davis
Died June 14, 2012, age 23, New York City
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Shantel Davis was fatally shot while driving a stolen car. Plainclothes NYPD officers approached her after she ran multiple red lights; when she tried to escape, Phil Atkins, a narcotics officer,
allegedly tried to shift her car into park as it was moving, the New York Times reports. His gun fired once, striking Davis in the chest.
Rekia Boyd
Died March 22, 2012, age 22, Chicago
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Rekia Boyd was unarmed when she was shot in the back of the head by Chicago Police Detective Dante Servin, who was off-duty at the time.
Servin was driving near his home late at night when he saw a group of four people walking outside. He had a brief conversation with them through his window, then turned the wrong way on a one-way street. According to the Chicago Tribune, he said he
then looked over his shoulder and thought he saw a man from the group pull a gun from his pants and point it at him.
Shereese Francis
Died March 15, 2012, age 29, New York City
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Shereese Francis was killed after family members called authorities seeking help because Francis, who had schizophrenia, had not been taking her medication and seemed like she needed medical attention. She refused to go to a hospital voluntarily.
The family’s
wrongful death lawsuit alleges Francis, who was unarmed, was not aware arriving NYPD officers were police because of her mental illness. When she tried to leave the room against their orders, they allegedly pursued her, grabbed her and “tackled” her onto a bed. The suit claims four officers put their weight onto Francis’ back while trying to cuff her, and her sister believes she saw them hitting and using a Taser on Francis until Francis stopped moving.
Aiyana Stanley-Jones
Died May 16, 2010, age 7, Detroit
Charles Jones, the father of 7-year-old Aiyana Stanley-Jones, holds a photo of his daughter in attorney Geoffrey Fieger's office in Southfield, Mich., Tuesday, May 18, 2010. Carlos Osorio/AP
Aiyana Stanley-Jones was sleeping on her couch with her grandmother when police conducted a "no knock" raid of their home. Officer Joseph Weekley was first through the door and after a flash-bang grenade went off, he fired his gun,
killing Aiyana. Weekley testified the grandmother struck his weapon and caused him to fire, but she denies being near the gun.
Police said the raid was in search of a murder suspect who lived in the second floor unit of the home.
Weekley was charged with involuntary manslaughter and a misdemeanor charge, but the
case was dismissed after two mistrials.
Tarika Wilson
Died Jan. 4, 2008, age 26, Lima, Ohio
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Tarika Wilson was killed when a Lima Police SWAT team
raided her rental home to arrest her boyfriend on drug charges, according to The New York Times. She had her youngest son, Sincere, in her arms when she was shot by Sgt. Joseph Chavalia. Sincere, who was 14 months old, was shot in the shoulder and hand but survived.
Kathryn Johnston
Died Nov. 21, 2006, age 92, Atlanta
Family Photo/AP
Kathryn Johnston was 92 when she was killed in a
botched "no knock" drug raid by Atlanta police that was revealed to be
based on false information. Officers broke down her security gate and without warning entered her home.
As the door opened, Johnston fired the pistol she kept for self-defense, hitting no one. Officers fired back 39 times. Five or six bullets hit Johnston, and several others hit fellow police.
Officers later admitted to falsely claiming cocaine submitted into evidence
had come from a drug deal at her house, and to planting marijuana at her house after the raid.
Alberta Spruill
Died May 16, 2003, age 57, New York City
Neighbors and friends of Alberta Spruill gather for a vigil. Andrew Savulich/NY Daily News via Getty Images
Alberta Spruill also died after police conducted a "no knock" raid at her home in error. Officers broke through her door and
threw a concussion grenade while Spruill, a city employee, was getting ready for work. She was briefly handcuffed but released when officers realized they were in the wrong place and that the information they were given -- that guns and drugs were being stored in the apartment -- was incorrect. Spruill
died of a heart attack at a nearby hospital less than two hours later.
The city of New York
agreed to pay a $1.6 million settlement to Spruill’s family.
“
This case for them is not about money. It’s about changing procedure,” Johnnie Cochran, lawyer for Spruill’s sisters, said in 2003. “It’s about the fact that their sister should not have died in vain.”
Kendra James
Died May 5, 2003, age 21, Portland
Ten years after Kendra James was killed by a Portland police officer, Huey P. Martin Jr. holds a booklet from her funeral during a rally for police accountability, May 5, 2013. Alex Milan Tracy/Corbis
Portland Police Officer Scott McCollister fatally shot Kendra James during a traffic stop. When McCollister pulled over James and driver Terry Jackson, he took Jackson into custody after seeing he had an outstanding warrant. James moved behind the wheel of the car and tried to drive away, and McCollister tried to stop her by clambering partially into the car and
pulling her hair and using pepper spray and a Taser. James put the car into drive and McCollister shot her, claiming he was stuck in the doorway and feared for his life.
A grand jury declined to prosecute. The officer was
initially suspended, but the disciplinary action was overturned by an arbitrator.
“It’s been 10 years later, justice has still not served,” James’ mother, Shirley Isadore,
said at a 2013 rally marking the anniversary of her daughter’s death.