Veteran Sarasota deputy cleared in shooting of 65-year-old man during eviction

The shooting death of a man by a sheriff's deputy in a downtown condo during an eviction has been ruled justified because the man threatened deputies with a knife, according to the 12th Judicial Circuit State Attorney's Office.

In a letter dated May 13, Chief Assistant State Attorney Craig Schaeffer said that the deputy, determined by the Herald-Tribune's reporting to be Sarasota County Sheriff's Deputy Stephanie Graham, acted lawfully in the April 1 incident in which she shot and killed Jeremiah Evans, 65. An autopsy report from the medical examiner’s office showed that Evans died from a perforation of his heart following a gunshot wound to his chest.

Public records and interviews paint a fuller picture of Evans and Graham, a 24-year sheriff's veteran, in the case in which a court-ordered eviction led to Evans' death at Palm Place condominiums at 755 South Palm Ave.

Previously: Sarasota County deputy fatally shoots armed man during eviction, Sheriff says

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Three deputies with the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office knocked and rang the doorbell multiple times on April 1 identifying themselves as from the sheriff’s office, according to records. They entered the apartment with a key after getting no response.

While at the front door, deputies announced who they were again and asked Evans to come to the door, Graham wrote in a use of firearms report.

“My firearm was drawn to search and clear the residence in order to safely turn the property over to the plaintiff,” Graham said in the report.

They confronted Evans, who was sitting at the kitchen table and refusing to leave, according to the letter from Schaeffer.

Evans kept referring to his third amendment rights, which are often invoked for someone's privacy in their home, as deputies commanded him to leave the property, Graham said in the report. Graham observed a knife in Evans’ right hand and tucked against his right thigh and told the other deputies that he had a knife.

“It’s for my defense,” Graham quoted Evans as saying in the report. Graham pointed her gun at Evans and gave him repeated commands to drop the knife, she said.

Another deputy on the scene deployed a Taser, which did not affect Evans. Evans stood up from the chair and raised his right hand, which held the knife, Graham wrote in the report.

As the Taser cycled through, Evans was able to advance toward Graham as she continued to yell at him to stop and drop the knife.

He stood up and took steps toward the deputies while holding the knife in front of him in a "threatening manner," Schaeffer wrote. When Evans was less than 8 feet from the deputies, Graham fired her gun one time at Evans, Schaeffer wrote in the letter.

Graham wrote that Evans was closer in her report.

“Once within three to four feet of me and fearing I would be stabbed, I fired one shot at his upper torso,” Graham said in her report.

After he fell to the floor and the knife was out of reach, the deputies called for medical response units and attempted life-saving measures.

"Based upon the established legal standard for justifiable use of deadly force, and the clear events that occurred, this office concludes that Deputy Graham's shooting of the decedent was the result of Justifiable use of deadly force and was therefore lawful due to the imminent threat posed by the decedent to the deputies," Schaeffer wrote in a letter to Sheriff Kurt A. Hoffman.

In response to a public records request from the Herald-Tribune, the State Attorney's Office provided an unredacted version that included the last names of the three deputies. The State Attorney’s Office says its disclosure of two deputies’ names was a mistake. Using public information, the Herald-Tribune determined Graham's first name.

When the Sheriff's Office and State Attorney's Office learned the newspaper had the deputy's name, they got a judge to issue an emergency injunction forbidding the paper from publishing the information about two of the deputies because they had invoked Marsy's Law, which prevents police agencies from releasing the identities of victims of crimes.

The newspaper fought the injunction, appearing in court on June 21 to argue that it was an unconstitutional prior restraint that violated the First Amendment. The parties were awaiting a ruling by Circuit Judge Charles Williams when, on Thursday, a group called the Florida Center for Government Accountability, which helps citizens and journalists access public records, published a story about the case online and included Stephanie Graham's name.

Given that the deputy had been publicly identified, the paper's attorneys filed a notice Friday afternoon saying the injunction was moot. Williams ruled in favor of dissolving the injunction on Monday.

Superiors praise deputy's judgment

Court hearing: Sarasota judge to rule within a week on injunction barring Herald-Tribune from ID'ing deputies

Graham has been a deputy with Sarasota County since 1998. She has received standard and above standard performance ratings from supervisors. She has received praise for her handling of drug busts and special victims investigations.

Graham has passed all in-service training sessions, including escalation and de-escalation tactics and Taser deployment.

During her 2021 performance review, her supervisor said she had exceptional judgment.

"She is fact-based and will not allow herself to be drawn into emotional situations when making decisions," Sgt. Sean Brophy wrote. "She effectively balances swift decision-making, with the ability to analyze the many angles to a given situation or problem."

In a circuit court lawsuit, Graham was named as a defendant in a 2004 drug bust, along with the sheriff at the time and two other deputies, in a federal lawsuit brought by a 63-year-old woman who alleged Graham used excessive force during a drug investigation.

The woman said she told deputies that she had arthritis and that she couldn't get on the ground as they asked. Graham allegedly pushed her to the ground, the woman said in her lawsuit.

The lawsuit alleged that "Graham then placed a foot on Croom's back, and Croom heard a gun 'click.' Graham told her to 'shut [her] mouth' when Croom tried to ask questions, Croom was detained on the ground for up to ten minutes."

The trial judge ruled in favor of the deputies and sheriff's office in an order granting them summary judgment. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the woman's allegations failed to establish a Fourth Amendment violation of excessive force in 2011.

Graham was commended in her personnel file for how she handled the case.

Who was Jeremiah Evans?

Evans, the man who died in a condo that wasn't his, was considered a drifter by those who knew him. But those who attended his church said they will remember his heart and acts of service.

The Rev. Charleston Wilson of the Church of the Redeemer said Evans was "a man of mystery in so many ways," but he did enjoy serving and worshiping at the church.

Evans would assist in setting up and cleaning up the altar guild, and he would ensure candles were stocked and stacked for those to come and pray. When Wilson walked through the church during the day for open prayer and meditation, he would often see Evans praying alone in the church.

"He was a man of prayer and a man of serving others," Wilson said.

Wilson said that when he spoke to Evans, he got the sense there was some past history of "mental anguish" that affected him because he struggled with words and expressing himself.

"Interacting with him was similar to interacting with those I've interacted with on the spectrum," Wilson said.

Evans had been staying at the condo with its owner, Calvin Joseph Marquis, a member of the Church of the Redeemer. Marquis and Evans went to the same church, but they attended different services.

COVID sped up Marquis' health decline, and Wilson said he guesses that Evans would help him get his medicine or make sure lunch was there.

Wilson said Marquis has a history of letting people live there, but he doesn't know if Evans was one of those people.

"The word 'take people in' is probably not what I'm looking for, but Cal had a huge heart," Wilson said.

Evans had received a separate court-ordered eviction in 2017 at a separate residence, according to the Sarasota County Clerk Records.

Once Marquis died in September, Kraig H. Koach, a lawyer and member of the Church of the Redeemer, acted as Marquis' personal representative of his estate. Koach serves as chairman of the Diocesan Finance Committee and as a member of the Endowment Committee, according to the Diocese of South Florida.

On Feb. 28 Evans was served a summons and a complaint after not vacating the residence.

Koach eventually obtained a writ of possession from the Sarasota County Court on March 28 for Marquis' condo.

The church has taken the responsibility for Evans' remains and will be hosting a service to inter his ashes.

Wilson said what happened to Evans was a tragic accident.

"All of us are precious in the sight of God."

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: State Attorney on shooting: Sarasota deputy justified in tenant death