Brown died of 'kill shot' by police, lawyers say

ATTORNEY BEN CRUMP: "We have the results of our autopsy report….”

Lawyers for the family of Andrew Brown Jr., a Black man killed by law enforcement in North Carolina, said on Tuesday that an independent autopsy showed he died from what attorney Ben Crump called a 'kill shot' to the back of the head.

“Now, you all know from the death certificate that it was a penetrating gunshot wound to the head. What they did not know, is that it was a kill shot to the back of the head.”

Brown family attorneys say the forty-two year-old was struck with four bullets to his right arm while in his driveway in Elizabeth City last Wednesday, before the fatal shot penetrated the rear of his skull as he tried to drive away from police.

ATTORNEY WAYNE KENDALL: “Mr. Brown had his arms up on the steering wheel of the vehicle he was located in. And what happened was, there were four bullet wounds to his right arm. These bullet wounds according to the autopsy were more or less glancing shots, they were not fatal shots. So he was able to back up, as these shots were coming into the vehicle, turn the vehicle around, spin off across a vacant lot, and at that time, he was hit in the back of the head.”

An official autopsy has yet to be released.

The Brown family lawyers have also accused officials of withholding evidence after being shown only 20 seconds of footage from one police body-cam.

ATTORNEY HARRY DANIELS: "He wasn't fleeing. He was trying to run because he was scared for his life.”

Seven sheriff's deputies were placed on leave after the shooting.

Sheriff Tommy Wooten said the deputies were trying to serve warrants on Brown stemming from a felony drug charge, and that Brown had a history of resisting arrest. They urged the public to reserve judgment until all evidence is reviewed by the State Bureau of Investigation.

Shortly after the news conference, the FBI's Charlotte Field Office announced that it has opened a federal civil rights investigation of the shooting.

Brown's death led to six nights of protests in Elizabeth City and came one day after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of murdering George Floyd in a trial that put a spotlight on police violence against Black people.

A court hearing was scheduled for Wednesday on whether the police body cam footage of Brown’s death can be disclosed to the media.