Savannah man's family raises questions about investigation into deadly police shooting
Maurice Mincey's family and faith leaders voiced frustration about the investigation into the Savannah man's death just days after the Chatham County District Attorney announced his shooting by police last year was "justifiable."
“We are sick and tired of policemen using that they fear for their life when they see a gun when it comes to a Black man. This is unacceptable,” said Elder James Johnson, CEO of the Racial Justice Network based in South Carolina. Johnson, two other clergymen and Mincey's family gathered Friday on Johnson Square to detail their concerns.
On July 17, 2021, Mincey was shot and killed by Savannah police officer Thomas Love during a traffic stop at the intersection of East Bolton Street and Waters Avenue. Mincey was a passenger in the car at the time.
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Among their concerns were the length of the traffic stop – which lasted 50 minutes and the driver was not given a ticket – and the initial claim by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation that Mincey pointed a gun. “If they lied about that, what else are they lying about?” Pastor Alan Mainor of Abundance Life Deliverance Center said at the press conference.
On Tuesday, Chatham County DA Shalena Cook Jones announced she would not prosecute Love. "The evidence shows that Mr. Mincey's possession of a firearm, his failure to respond to verbal commands and sudden exit from the car posed an imminent risk of danger to officers and citizens in the immediate area," Jones said, calling the officer's actions "justifiable" given the circumstances.
Details of Mincey’s last moments have changed since the GBI began its investigation last year. The Savannah Morning News has filed an open records request for documents and body camera footage pertaining to the case.
GBI Investigation
According to the GBI's initial findings, Savannah police stopped a car at the intersection near East Bolton Street and Waters Avenue around 9:30 p.m. after the driver of the vehicle allegedly failed to stop at a stop sign.
Nearly 50 minutes after the stop was initiated, the GBI was called to the scene. While officers were talking to the driver outside the vehicle, Mincey was "moving around inside the vehicle when officers asked Mincey to stop moving and show his hands," according to a GBI news release at that time.
Initial Report: GBI: Man shot and killed by Savannah police after pointing gun during traffic stop
The GBI initially stated Mincey refused to do as instructed and instead stepped out of the vehicle and pointed a gun at officers. They walked back that statement the next day.
Earlier this week, the DA's office recounted the same events but said that after reviewing the body camera footage and the GBI report, Mincey "removed a firearm from his rear waistband and placed it either in his lap or between his knees while talking to an officer through the passenger-side window."
The release goes on to state that Love, who was on the driver's side of the car, instructed Mincey to show his hands. The DA's office said Mincey then opened the passenger door and exited the car with a gun in his hand.
That's when Love shot Mincey in the back through the driver-side door of the car.
Video footage from that night confirmed the gun — a Smith and Wesson 9 mm semi-automatic pistol — fell from Mincey's hand and slid across the pavement, stopping a few feet away from Mincey's body, the DA's office said.
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Next steps
Footage of the shooting has not been publicly released. Mincey's family was shown footage of Mincey's final moments for the first time during a closed-door meeting with their attorneys and Jones and her staff earlier this week.
David Aylor, who represents the Mincey's family, disputed the claim that there was a gun on Mincey at the time of his fatal shooting, reiterating he did not point or aim a gun at anyone.
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"What I see in the video, was a quick action that occurred within just seconds, from a person that had been compliant the entire time,” Aylor told the SMN earlier this week. “There was a gun present on the scene, but we saw no footage of the gun once the deceased exited the vehicle. We saw no footage where the gun was on his person."
Aylor said he expects to receive the files in two weeks and will decide from there what civil action to pursue. Johnson and Mainor called for the Attorney General to investigate Mincey’s death and other police shootings in Savannah.
In the aftermath, Mincey's fiancée Maria Scott is left picking up the pieces for her and Mincey's 4-year-old young son.
“It hurts that I'm the one to explain it to him. The officer that gunned down his father – no condolences, no anything. You don't have to explain anything; I do,” Scott said, as her son sat nearby. “I gotta listen to them cries at night. He don't. He can be with his kids.”
Raisa is a watchdog and investigative reporter for the Savannah Morning News. Contact her at rhabersham@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Savannah police shooting: Family wants answers year after man's death
