'Caricature of the truth': Lawyer disputes accounts of LMPD shooting of Mark Jaggers Jr.
A lawyer representing the family of a 21-year-old white man killed by Louisville police in an alley earlier this month pushed back against the city’s narrative the man was trying to carjack an undercover officer’s vehicle, saying officials presented “a false face and caricature of the truth” to “poison the minds of the public.”
Instead, attorney Aubrey Williams said, Mark Jaggers Jr. was confronting a suspicious vehicle with tinted windows that had been parked behind his home in west Louisville's Portland neighborhood for “a while,” in a location frequently used by people to ditch stolen cars.
“This man did what I would have done,” Williams said at a press conference Friday morning, in the same alley where Jaggers was fatally shot on June 19.
Williams repeatedly highlighted how Jaggers was behind his home when he approached Louisville Metro Police Department Officer Matt Hayden’s vehicle, and that he got out of his own car leaving his soon-to-be wife and children behind.
“Now, please tell me: when he hijacks the car, where is he going to take it? He’s going to hijack the car and drive off and leave his family there?” he said.
He added: “This is one of the most absurd situations that I’ve dealt with as a lawyer.”
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The press conference came one day after Kentucky State Police, the agency investigating the shooting, released body camera footage showing Jaggers walking to the driver’s-side door of the unmarked LMPD vehicle and pointing his pistol at Hayden when the door opened. Hayden then fired several shots and Jaggers could be seen falling to the ground.
In the body camera footage, Jaggers can be heard saying “I wasn’t going to rob you” after the officer radioed in that he’d just experienced an attempted robbery.
In a statement following the release of the body camera footage Thursday, Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said the video made it clear that the officer was defending his life.
“Any time a person loses their life like this it is a tragedy,” he said. “In this case, it is clear from the video that the officer was protecting his own life from an armed assailant. He quickly called for help, rendered aid, and made sure to record the entire encounter by activating his body-worn camera.”
KSP said Hayden, a member of LMPD’s Fugitive Unit, was conducting surveillance in an unrelated investigation when he was approached. He is a ten-year veteran of the force.
Williams, attorney for the Jaggers family, said the body camera footage did not paint a complete picture of what happened that afternoon.
He claimed that body camera footage “omitted” the moments leading up to the shooting, including the first four seconds of the video, in which KSP said audio is “not recorded.”
Jaggers’ father, Mark Jaggers, who was present at the press conference, said his son had said “who’s in that car?” before approaching Hayden.
He also said his son did not call the police about the suspicious vehicle because police take 30 to 40 minutes to show up to incidents in their area.
The father had previously told local news outlets his son thought the car was another stolen car that had been abandoned and was looking to take it for a joyride inspired by a TikTok trend.
Axon body cameras like the department use constantly capture video, but only start recording audio when physically activated by the officer to begin an event. An LMPD spokesperson told The Courier Journal they believed the body camera was not recording audio for the four seconds where audio was not available.
Williams also disputed that Jaggers opened the door of the undercover officer’s vehicle, claiming that Hayden pushed the car door open, knocking him to the ground.
In the video released Thursday, Hayden’s hand moves towards the door, but it is unclear whether he or Jaggers opened it. In a statement released alongside the body camera footage, Capt. Paul Blanton of the Kentucky State Police said Jaggers opened the door.
While Kentucky State Police released body camera footage, Blanton said the investigation is ongoing and has no set timeline.
Williams said he will launch a lawsuit against the city over Jaggers’ killing.
“That’s how we fight for justice,” he said.
In the alley where Jaggers was shot, a makeshift memorial has been created with balloons and flowers. A large wooden cross at its center describes Jaggers as a “beloved father,” “son,” “brother” and “friend.”
Parts of the alley were strewn with pungent trash and several cars appeared to be abandoned.
“I do not dispute that he had his gun out, as any sensible human being would do if he’s investigating a very suspicious car in his neighborhood, where you have crime proliferate,” Williams said.
Hayden could have avoided the shooting, Williams said, had he gotten out of the car and confronted Jaggers as he approached.
Reach reporter Josh Wood at jwood@courier-journal.com or on Twitter @JWoodJourno
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Lawyer disputes officials' account of fatal Louisville police shooting
