Donovan Lewis' family calls for change in Columbus police policy in wake of fatal shooting

Donovan Lewis' brother said Thursday that he liked the direction his brother was headed in life before he was killed Aug. 30 by a Columbus police officer, even though the 20-year-old was well aware that he might become a victim of police violence.

Tariq Stewart, Lewis' brother, speaking at a news conference held by Lewis' family and attorneys Thursday outside Columbus City Hall, said he had spent much of the last week going through photographs of his late brother, finding a favorite from 2015 where Lewis, who was biracial, was at a protest in the same place Stewart was speaking.

"This was not something he was oblivious to," Stewart said of police shootings. "I'm not saying he was perfect though."

Lewis was fatally shot by Officer Ricky Anderson while police were serving arrest warrants for him just after 2 a.m. for a felony charge of improper handling of a firearm and misdemeanor charges that included domestic violence and assault involving Lewis' pregnant girlfriend.

Rebecca Duran, Lewis' mother, said that while she still remains in the grief stage and hasn't thought much about lasting changes she wants to see implemented by Columbus police, she hopes that those ideas will come.

"He was an activist before he was the reason for the action," Duran said.

The family's local attorney Rex Elliott, said the location of the news conference was not intended to send a message to city officials, but was symbolic.

"We need to get rid of middle of the night arrest warrants unless there's dangerous, exigent circumstances," said Elliott, who also asked for a quick conclusion to the criminal investigation by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation into Lewis' death.

Dayton attorney who helped Andre Hill family joining legal team

Michael Wright, a Dayton-area attorney who helped represent the family of Andre Hill, is joining the legal team assisting the family of Lewis, who intend to file a civil lawsuit against the city in the wake of his death. Hill, 47, an unarmed Black man, was fatally shot by then-Columbus police officer Adam Coy on Dec. 22, 2020, as he exited a garage with a cellphone in his left hand and what turned out to be car keys in his right hand.

Coy and a female officer responded to a home on Oberlin Drive on the city's Northwest Side for a non-emergency call. The shooting of Hill was caught on Coy's body camera video but without audio because Coy did not have the camera turned on at the time of the shooting.

On Thursday, Wright said he was frustrated and aggravated to be back in Columbus for another police shooting case.

The Columbus Division of Police "has to stop this," Wright said. "They have to make changes in policy and procedure. Our job is to hold the (police division) accountable and make them stop this behavior."

Hill's family received a $10 million settlement from the city of Columbus, which also adopted Andre's Law. Among other things, the law requires city police officers to render medical aid as soon as possible after a shooting or other critical incident where they injure someone.

Police did carry Lewis outside and render aid, including CPR, while waiting on the arrival of Columbus Fire medics, who took about five minutes to arrive even though records released Wednesday show they were told three times they could go straight to the shooting scene.

However, the family has questioned city policy requiring a critically wounded suspect be handcuffed while police were carrying Lewis down stairs from his apartment and rendering aid. Police did eventually take off the cuffs while attempting to help Lewis.

Donovan Lewis shooting:What we know about fatal police shooting

Search warrant shows no firearm found after shooting

Lewis was shot around 2 a.m. on Aug. 30 in the bed of his apartment on Sullivant Avenue by 30-year Columbus police veteran Ricky Anderson. Officers had been at the apartment to attempt to arrest Lewis on warrants related to domestic violence and assault charges from an Aug. 10 incident involving Lewis' pregnant girlfriend, as well as a felony warrant for improper handling of a firearm.

Officers spent between eight and 10 minutes knocking on the apartment's door before someone inside opened the door and let officers into the unit. After announcing themselves again and ordering anyone else inside to come out, officers sent a K-9 into the apartment. The dog appears, on body camera footage released by police, to go into the bedroom and bark, prompting a verbal response from Lewis. The dog goes into the room a second time, prompting a second verbal reaction, and then the sound of a door shutting is heard on the camera footage.

What happened:A timeline of the Columbus police fatal shooting of Donovan Lewis

Officers, including Anderson, entered the apartment. Anderson opened the now-closed bedroom door and fired his weapon one time within a second of the door opening.

According to a copy of the search warrant and evidence receipt reviewed by The Dispatch, no firearm was found in Lewis' apartment after the shooting.

For subscribers:Search warrant shows no firearm was found in Donovan Lewis' apartment

Lewis' family initially said, through their attorney Rex Elliott, that Lewis was known to be a deep sleeper and was likely unaware police were even at the apartment until the shooting took place. Elliott said Lewis was killed "in cold blood" after police stormed the apartment.

On Thursday, Elliott said that Lewis may have been awake but still "out of it" when officers burst into his room.

"There were police and dogs in his apartment," Elliott said. "He knows what happens in this country."

Investigation:Columbus inspector general to probe Donovan Lewis shooting, 2 other police shootings

Mother says Donovan Lewis was 'special, different' from young age

In new body camera footage from after the shooting released on Thursday by Columbus police, Lewis' mother, Rebecca Duran, is seen speaking with a sergeant who is at the scene of the shooting.

Duran tells the sergeant that she received a call from Lewis' girlfriend, who had gotten called by police to alert her that a shooting had taken place. Duran asks to know what hospital Lewis was taken to and does not yet know that he has died.

In speaking with the sergeant, Duran also says her son is "mentally ill" and she "knows that's always the story." She said she had "begged" prosecutors for help for her son for years.

Previous coverage:Family's lawyer Rex Elliott criticizes Columbus officer

Duran said Thursday that she had sought help from counselors, psychiatrists and others for the majority of his life because of issues she recognized as a mother in her child.

"He was special and different and good and bad ways," Duran said. "People thought it was a discipline issue and not a mental health situation."

Duran added that some of the charges Lewis had faced in his life might not have ever occurred had her son gotten the help he needed. She said more funding is needed for mental health services for underserved communities and people of color.

Donovan Lewis' family:Keep protests peaceful, focus on change

Wright and Duran both said that Lewis' mental health issues played no role in his being killed. Wright said the police handling of the situation is what caused the 20-year-old's death, not Lewis' mental state.

Elliott also said on Thursday that police need to be better trained to render medical aid after critical incidents. Elliott said that police did not render any medical aid for nearly six minutes after Lewis was shot.

Duran, who said she works in the medical field, said police did "nothing careful or kind" in their handling of Lewis — including carrying him outside after the shooting and waiting about five minutes for an ambulance to arrive on scene. Body camera footage shows officers did perform CPR after Lewis was outside and apply what appears to be a trauma bandage.

Lewis' funeral is scheduled for noon Saturday at Christian Valley Missionary Baptist Church, located at 3330 Scottwood Rd. The service is open to the public, but seating is limited. A visitation will be held from 11 a.m. to noon Saturday at the church.

bbruner@dispatch.com

@bethany_bruner

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Donovan Lewis' family calls for change in Columbus police policy