The family of a Georgia woman killed as deputies entered her cousin’s home on a search warrant claim her civil rights were violated, according to a federal lawsuit obtained by Atlanta Black Star.
Attorneys and the family have compared Latoya James’ May 2021 death in Woodbine, Georgia, to Breonna Taylor’s death in Louisville, Kentucky in March 2020. The family has urged the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the case.
James, 37, was fatally shot as the deputies opened fire in a dark house early morning near Savannah, Georgia. Authorities said James’ cousin initiated the gunfire. Local prosecutors in April concluded that the use of deadly force was justified. The lawsuit alleges the deputies did not give the occupants of the house enough time to respond before forcing their way inside.
“I can never get her back,” Latoya’s mother, Betty James, said through tears at a news conference Monday. “I got to hear her tell me `I love you, mommy’ for the last time the night before they took her life. And I can never hear that again. My family wants justice. We deserve justice.”
The lawsuit filed Sunday by James’ mother on behalf of the dead woman’s 9-year-old daughter, and her estate named Camden County Sheriff Jim Proctor and the deputies involved in the raid. Body-camera footage shows the group of deputies entering Varshan Brown’s home within seconds of announcing themselves. One of the deputies’ shields blocks the camera, but gunshots can be heard shortly after entry. James, who was unarmed, died on the scene.
It was 5:10 a.m., the lawsuit says.
“It was under the dark of night. It was unexpected,” said Reginald Greene, an attorney for James’ family. “It was unlawful. It was unjustified.”
In April, Brunswick Judicial Circuit Keith Higgins said that “the officers’ use of force in this instance was justified to protect their lives.”
In addition to a slew of charges that included possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, Brown was later indicted for felony murder for his cousin’s death. The lawsuit alleges James was shot in her shoulder and back as deputies and Brown exchanged gunfire.
“We know the fact in this case that the bullet that struck Latoya James did not come from her cousin,” Attorney Bakari Sellers said. “Those bullets came from those sheriff’s deputies.’”
The attorneys contend that the entry was unlawful, the shooting was excessive and those actions’ led to James’ wrongful death. According to the claim, the knock and announcement should’ve been “loud enough to be heard, and it must be followed by a pause long enough for someone to answer or come to the door,” according to law.
“I will point you directly to the statute that gives clear direction that’s been codified by the General Assembly in Atlanta, Georgia, that you have a knock and announce warrant,” Attorney Harry Daniels said. “You must give the person an opportunity to come to the door. You must at least get an opportunity for them to respond to the non-mission. The video is very clear, and that didn’t happen.”
The lawsuit alleges the deputies gave James and Brown just 2.5 seconds to respond.
“An unannounced entry may provoke violence in supposed self-defense by the surprised resident,” the attorneys argue in the complaint, citing the 2006 Fourth Amendment case Hudson v. Michigan, where officers failed to knock and announce. The offender argued that the evidence found in a raid should be suppressed.
A spokesperson for the sheriff’s office told The Associated Press it does not comment on pending litigation.
