Family of Black man shot while holding cellphone want murder trial for SWAT officer
DENVER — The family of a Black man who was holding a cellphone when he was fatally shot by a SWAT officer called for a murder trial against the officer Thursday after portions of body camera footage of the shooting was publicly released.
Kilyn (KAI-lin) Lewis, 37, was shot when officers moved in to arrest him on May 23 in the parking lot of an apartment building in the Denver suburb of Aurora. The officers, who appear to come from unmarked vehicles, are heard. on video shouting at him to get on the ground. After taking a few steps next to his car and putting his right hand behind his back, Lewis appears to surrender as he raises his arms in the air.
He had what was later identified as a cell phone in his right hand, Interim Police Chief Heather Morris said in a statement produced video released by police including parts of the body camera footage. Morris also pointed out that Lewis put his hand in his left pocket before raising his hands.
Just as Lewis bends his legs, as if to get to the ground, an officer fires a single shot at Lewis. Lewis says, “I have nothing. I do not have anything. I do not have anything.”
The other officers did not fire at Lewis. An arrest warrant had been issued for Lewis after he was suspected of being involved in a May 5 shooting in Denver that injured a man, according to Morris and court documents.
Lewis’ mother, LaRonda Jones, said the officer should be prosecuted like anyone else and urged the local prosecutor and attorney general to uphold and enforce the law. But she said her son’s “outright murder” was part of a larger problem with police in Aurora, where another Black man, Elijah McClain, died in 2019 after being stopped by police while walking home from a store walked. Two paramedics and a police officer were convicted at his death.
“This is not just about one officer or one incident. It’s about a broken system that devalues Black lives,” Jones said at a news conference with Lewis’ father, wife and older brother and attorneys for the family.
Aurora police declined to comment on the chief’s statements in the video, citing the ongoing investigation into whether the officer should be charged and whether department policy was followed.
A working phone number for the officer who shot Lewis could not be found after searching an online database. A phone message and email message left for the Aurora Police Department’s two police unions were not immediately returned.
One of the family’s attorneys, Edward Hopkins Jr., said Lewis was apparently blindsided when he saw officers pointing guns at him and shouting commands at him, which he likened to how a gang might approach someone.
Hopkins also criticized police, saying they released the video in a manner most beneficial to officers in an effort to gain public support. Members of Lewis’ family were allowed to see video of the shooting last week, he said.
“They wanted to start the conversation the way they wanted to,” he said of the police.
Police did not immediately release the unedited footage of the shooting following a records request.