His sister was shot, killed by Hyde Park police. Why he says it shouldn't have happened

The announcement last month that a Hyde Park police officer would not face criminal charges in the fatal shooting of a woman during a domestic violence call did not surprise her brother.

What continues to shock him is that she had to die in the first place.

“I think the whole thing could have been handled differently and they don’t want to take blame for anything,” Steven Feith told The Poughkeepsie Journal in the family’s first public comments since the April 29, 2022, killing of Jamie Feith.

The 34-year-old mother of three young boys had called 911 that day after arguing with her partner, the boys’ father. Hyde Park Officers Joshua Kemlage and Bryan Sweeney, and state Trooper Christopher Miller, responded.

Feith's partner was taken outside but the kids were still in a bedroom with their mother when Kemlage tried to get information from her. She became agitated and as he led her into the living room, she pulled a knife from her back pocket and unfolded it.

Kemlage managed to get her on the floor but Feith got up again and pursued him into the kitchen. Sweeney used a Taser on her but she didn't stop and as she got closer to Kemlage in the kitchen, he fired four shots at Feith, killing her.

The state Attorney General's Office of Special Investigation determined after a 13-month investigation it would be unable to disprove Kemlage's use of deadly force was justified.

Steven, two years younger than Jamie, said as the only kids in a blended family who shared both mom and dad, they were the closest siblings. They grew up in Olivebridge, in Ulster County. A few years after high school, Jamie lived with a boyfriend across the Ashokan Reservoir in West Hurley and was working as a graphic artist.

She had her rebellious years, he said, and he told investigators she had experienced mental health problems.

He said she met the father of her kids at a party. He was an event photographer and video producer and once they started having kids, that was her focus and she stopped working for the most part.

“She was a very good mother, a lot less rebellious at that point,” Steven Feith said. “She was extremely into her children, worried about everything, wanting to make sure everything was safe for them.”

Along with his wife and their kids, Steven Feith would usually see his sister and her family every weekend. The kids loved playing with each other, he said, and Jamie’s kids particularly loved their aunt. “I was the mean uncle who disciplined,” he said. “She was the one with the treats always.”

When he got the call the day Jamie was shot, and came over to help with the kids, “The whole time there I thought they were playing a sick joke on me," he said. "I couldn’t really believe it.”

More: Newly released body cam footage shows police fatally shooting Hyde Park woman

Jamie Feith's brother questions police actions in her death

Her partner, who declined a reporter's request for an interview, told investigators Jamie often carried the folding knife. Steven said it would have been out of character for her to wield it. And he’s not even so sure that’s what she was doing.

“She didn’t swing, she didn’t lunge, she didn’t once try to cut anyone,” he said.

The knife, he said, didn't come out until the moments after Kemlage told his sister she was having a “meltdown” over nothing. Steven Feith can’t imagine that was taught in de-escalation training.

“I definitely think that was escalation more than anything else,” he said.

He said his sister’s whole demeanor changed after that and escalated again when Kemlage told her that if she continued to act erratically he would have to take her to the hospital.

Jamie wasn’t a fan of New York’s medical system, he said, relying on homeopathic treatments and home births. “(The mention of the hospital) would upset her normally so in a situation like that it definitely would have,” he said.

For Feith family, recent steps toward transparency too little, too late

Paul DerOhannesian, a lawyer representing the two Hyde Park officers, said they had worked to de-escalate the situation from the moment they arrived and were successful until Feith became erratic in the bedroom. Until then everything had been calm, the lawyer said, and Kemlage had no idea what mental health issues Feith might have been facing but did what he was trained and required to do to make a domestic violence report.

"He seeks to do his best to not escalate," DerOhannesian said. "He was calm and patient and also concerned for the three children."

Steven Feith said he could not understand why three law enforcement officers could not disarm and subdue his sister, especially if Kemlage managed to get her on the floor initially.

Neither the AG's report nor the body cam footage explained how Feith managed to get up again.

Miller told investigators he had planned to handcuff Feith before noticing she had pulled out the knife, at which point he dropped his handcuffs and pulled out his gun. He said he fell backward onto the couch so didn't see the full struggle between Kemlage and Feith on the floor or how a still-armed Feith managed to get up.

DerOhannesian said it was unclear from the video whether Kemlage remained on top of Feith and was trying to restrain her at that point or remain as far as possible from the hand which held the knife.

Neither Kemlage nor Sweeney would consent to be interviewed by state investigators. Once subpoenaed, they declined to answer substantive questions and asserted their Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination.

Steven Feith said he was bothered that police officers who use deadly force are allowed to refrain from answering questions.

"If you did everything the way you think you should have handled it, it shouldn't be a problem to give a statement," he said.

But DerOhannesian said when officers are facing a criminal investigation that could take unexpected turns "they should and do protect themselves as any citizen has the right to do."

It’s no consolation to the family, Feith said, that Hyde Park this year equipped its officers with body-worn cameras and hired a behavioral specialist to be available to de-escalate similar situations.

“They’re making all these changes and everything while at the same time telling us it was justified and nothing was wrong with it,” he said. “It kind of makes you feel not so great.”

Feith said he misses “everything” about his sister and his kids are now separated from hers, except for video chats, because Jamie’s partner moved with them to North Carolina.

Jamie’s death particularly devastated their mother, Steven Feith said. Her health issues worsened and she was in and out of the hospital for months. She died in March.

On Facebook, she posted a pair of pictures of her and Jamie. They look so alike, almost like twins. Also on Facebook, she posted a meme that read, “I loved you all of your life. I’ll miss you the rest of mine.”

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Jamie Feith's brother speaks out after fatal Hyde Park police shooting