The family of Fred Cox, an 18-year-old black boy killed by a deputy sheriff at a North Carolina funeral last November, filed a wrongful death lawsuit — claiming he tried to protect a mother and her son during incident.
«Fred died for being a hero while also being black,» said Ben Crump, a civil rights activist representing the Cox family, at a press conference on Wednesday.
A federal lawsuit filed against the Davidson County Sheriff's Office and Deputy Michael Shane Hill seeks damages on six counts, including excessive use of force, wrongful death and negligence, and violations of the 4th and 14th Amendments .
The complaint stated that Hill used «unreasonable and deadly force» against Cox when he «saved the lives of a mother and her young son.» — Point at a memorial service for the recently murdered Jonas Thompson. Hill, the plainclothes deputy sheriff who investigated Thompson's murder, also attended the funeral at the request of the victim's family.
The crowd was leaving the memorial service when someone opened fire from a car nearby. Cox rushed to the scene and tried to help the mother and her 12-year-old child, who were looking for shelter. The guy held the door to the church so they could run inside — but then Hill shot Cox from behind several times, killing him on the spot. Fred was the only person to die in the incident.
The North Carolina Bureau of Investigation, which investigated the circumstances of the shooting, initially stated that Hill reported seeing Cox with a pistol and that other witnesses saw the weapon next to him after he was killed.
However, Cox's family and their attorneys disputed this claim, stating that he was unarmed.
The attorney for the mother and child who took refuge inside the church also said that Cox could not hold the gun because he used one hand. to open the church door and another to guide them inside during the shooting.
Crump noted that Hill continued to shoot at all three and that the bullet grazed the 12-year-old's arm.
In addition, authorities said there was no evidence that Cox was in the gang or that he fired a gun — but Hill will not face any criminal charges. It was decided not to nominate them in June.
“For a long time we saw how & lt;… & gt; police stop and injure people for driving as black, cycling as black, or walking down the street as black, ”Crump said in a statement.
“ But this young man was shot in the back by an officer when he was trying to save lives in a very dangerous situation. ”
