Family wants murder charges, bodycam law after Arkansas deputy shot white teen, Ben Crump says
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An Arkansas family is calling for a sheriff's deputy to be charged with murder after he fatally shot an unarmed white teenager last month in a case civil rights attorney Ben Crump believes could lead to meaningful police reform.
Lonoke County Sheriff’s Sgt. Michael Davis was fired for failing to turn on his body camera before the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Hunter Brittain on June 23, but authorities have said little about what led to the incident.
The family has retained attorneys Devon Jacob and Crump, who have been involved in several high profile cases of Black Americans killed by police, including George Floyd.
Crump told USA TODAY that the family was "devastated" and wants murder charges filed against the officer. They have held nightly protests outside the sheriff's office to demand more information and to pressure the state to pass new body camera legislation.
Hunter was shot after the deputy stopped him outside an auto repair shop around 3 a.m. June 23 along Arkansas Highway 89 south of Cabot, about 30 miles northeast of Little Rock, according to Arkansas State Police. He was taken to a local hospital, where he later died.
"The circumstances of the traffic stop and what may have led up to the deputy firing his gun at Brittain will be documented in the investigation," state police said at the time.
The sheriff's office placed Davis, who had been on the force since 2013, on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation. Days later, Davis was fired because he "didn't activate his body camera in a timely way" during the stop, which violated the agency's policy, Lonoke County Sheriff John Staley said July 1.
Staley said no footage of the shooting exists.
Family members said Hunter was working on his truck's transmission and test driving it when he was pulled over.
The vehicle would not shift into park, so Hunter got out of his truck to put a large bottle of antifreeze behind the wheel to stop it from rolling toward the deputy's vehicle, family attorneys including Crump said in a statement citing witnesses. The teenager was unarmed when Davis shot him three times, according to the statement.
Davis' attorney, Robert Newcomb, told KATV that Hunter's death was a "tragedy," but said the teenager failed to respond to the officer's verbal commands. The deputy has requested a grievance hearing to be reinstated because he believed his camera was turned on, Newcomb said.
"Either the camera malfunctioned or he didn’t get all of the things pushed,” Newcomb told the outlet.
Arkansas State Police investigated the shooting and turned over the case file to prosecutors on Friday. On Monday, Jeff Phillips, prosecuting attorney for the Fifth Judicial District, was appointed as special prosecutor to decide whether the deputy should be charged by a Lonoke County circuit judge.
Crump said he expects Hunter's family will plan more rallies in Arkansas and travel to Washington, D.C., to advocate police reform as other families who have lost loved ones to police violence have done. Speakers at Hunter's memorial service, where civil rights leader Al Sharpton delivered the eulogy, also called for federal lawmakers to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.
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Jesse Brittain, Hunter's uncle, called for an end to qualified immunity for police officers, a legal doctrine that frequently shields them from civil lawsuits for on-the-job misconduct or unconstitutional actions
“Your life had meaning, you’re loved and your family will not stop advocating until we have justice for you, Hunter,” he said during the service. “And also justice for all of our other brothers and sisters dying at the hands of law enforcement hired to protect and serve us around this country.”
Crump told USA TODAY that Hunter's case could push Congress to pass the landmark police reform package named after Floyd because the police killing of an unarmed, white teenager has already attracted attention from groups like NASCAR that haven't previously made social justice a priority. Family members said the teenager dreamed of becoming a NASCAR driver after graduation.
This marks the first time Crump has taken up a case involving a white person killed by police, although he has represented white inmates who were killed or died while incarcerated, according to CNN.
Crump said Hunter's death may help white people who may not think police brutality is a problem in their community change their mindset. Although Black Americans are killed by police at more than twice the rate of white Americans, about half of the people fatally shot by police are white, according to the Washington Post's police shooting database.
"Hunter Brittain's case is going to be so significant for building even greater interracial support to finally get meaningful police reform in America," Crump said.
Contributing: The Associated Press
Follow N'dea Yancey-Bragg on Twitter: @NdeaYanceyBragg
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hunter Brittain: Family wants murder charges for deputy Michael Davis
