‘We’re tired:’ Families of police violence victims want legislation passed to end brutality
Families of people injured and killed by police officers are now asking for district attorney offices to reopen their loved ones’ cases.
Channel 2′s Tyisha Fernandes was with several of those families during a rally on Thursday.
Ingrid Smyrna was one of many grieving family members who shared their stories at the rally. She says her son Andrew was shot and killed by a Georgia State Patrol trooper in 2020.
Smyrna says DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston decided not to prosecute the officer because she said she followed policy and procedure.
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She and several other parents made their way to the Georgia State Capitol to beg legislators to pass four bills that are aimed at preventing police brutality.
“Our children should be alive today! None of them should be buried in the ground,” Smyrna said.
Vakelvion Holmes lost her son, Eric, last year when he was shot and killed by a Clayton County officer. Police say Eric Holmes was driving a stolen car.
“Our lawmakers, we need them to listen. We need bill HB107, police accountability act, passed. We need 112, ethical police act, passed, bill 113, preventing tragedies and communities act, we need it passed. Bill 115, end racial profiling act, we need it passed,” Holmes said.
Dalphine Robinson lost her son, Jabril, when a Clayton County officer shot him in 2016.
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“These bills need to be entered into law, and they need to be passed because this has to stop. We cannot continue to do this,” Robinson said.
Kathy Scott-Lykes lost her son, Jarvis, in 2017 when he was shot by a state trooper in Columbus, Ga.
“These bills need to be passed to hold these police accountable for the lives they have taken, and these lawmakers need to help these families. We don’t need anyone else to join our sorority group. We’re tired, we’ve had enough,” she pleaded.
Most of the parents who spoke during Thursday’s rally broke down in tears afterward, but said they would not stop fighting for more police accountability.
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