A Texas woman was shot multiple times by Harris County sheriff’s deputies while in her friend’s home earlier this month.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump likened it to the events that led to the death of Breonna Taylor in 2020. His client, 28-year-old Eboni Pouncy, was reportedly hit five times in the early hours of Feb. 3 and is now using a walker during her recovery process. Two of the bullets struck her in the chest area.
“Breathing too hard, laughing. Everything hurts,” Pouncy told KTRK. “I’m not able to be as attentive with my baby. She’s only 1. So that’s probably the hardest part.”
Pouncy and her friend, Laronda Berry, arrived at Berry’s home at the Woodforest apartment complex when they realized she had misplaced her keys, according to the reports. The duo were able to get inside by busting the window. A neighbor believed they were intruders and immediately reported it to deputies, who were already on the scene dealing with a separate issue.
When the deputies got to the apartment, they knocked at the door, which prompted Pouncy to walk toward it with her registered handgun. During her interview with KTRK, Pouncy claimed that she didn’t hear the deputies announce themselves and took out her weapon as a safety measure.
“We got into the house. We were watching TV. There was a knock at the door at that time, and I got up, and I grabbed my gun, and I went to go greet who was ever at the door,” she explained. “Because the window was broken, and I believed I was taking safety precaution at that time of night, and so I was just trying to do the right thing.”
Body camera footage posted by the Harris County Sheriff’s Office shows two deputies approaching and knocking on the door: “Sheriff’s office,” one of them said.
While waiting for a response, the deputies moved away from the front of the door and stood where they could see inside the apartment through the window.
“Someone’s coming,” the deputy said.
Seconds later, both of the deputies opened fire. They then walked back down the stairs and called for backup.
“An investigation into this incident is ongoing by the Sheriff’s Office Homicide Unit. The Harris County District Attorney’s Office is conducting an independent investigation, which is standard when a deputy uses potentially deadly force,” the sheriff’s office said in their video statement.
According to KTRK, the deputies involved were placed on leave. Pouncy is calling for more consequences because she doesn’t think the deputies followed protocol.
“It is concerningly clear by the video and Eboni’s injuries that deputies were not justified in shooting her five times,” Crump said. “We demand that the deputies involved be immediately held accountable for the terrible injuries that Eboni suffered due to their impulsive actions.”
