The
widow of a Texas man fatally shot by a Mesa police officer five years ago may press for a trial in her lawsuit against the city.
The lawsuit stems from the January 2016 death of Daniel Shaver, who was fatally shot in a Mesa hotel hallway as he was on his knees, unarmed and begging for his life, according to a police report and body camera footage.
Then-Officer Philip “Mitch” Brailsford shot Shaver, 26, five times after he moved his hand near his waistband, indicating that he may have been armed, according to the police report.
Mesa initially fired Brailsford, who was arrested, indicted and found not guilty of second-degree murder in 2017. He later was rehired to apply for a pension and then took medical retirement.
Naimah Nuriddin was looking at her cellphone while her 10-year-old son, Rahiem, sat in a barber s chair getting a haircut.
Her 5-year-old daughter, Khaliayah, sat next to her in one of the black vinyl chairs lined up against one wall inside Natural Impressions. The barbershop on East Washington Street near downtown Phoenix caters to Black people, who sometimes drive more than 100 miles from as far as Prescott for a trim.
One customer once described Natural Impressions as the poor man s country club where people come to talk politics, church, movies, sports you name it not just for a haircut.
This week, there was one topic on everyone s mind: The verdict of Derek Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer charged with murdering George Floyd.