Lawsuit blames culture of recklessness in Florida sheriff s office for fatal shooting of Black teens Tyler Vazquez and Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon, Florida Today
Ben Crump in Viera: Asks U.S. Justice to investigate death of 2 Black teens, BCSO
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BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – Civil rights attorney Ben Crump announced a lawsuit Friday after a deputy fatally shot a 16-year-old and 18-year-old in Florida last year.
The lawsuit comes the day after the state attorney’s office announced that the officer who shot and killed the two Black teens, 18-year-old Sincere Pierce and 16-year-old Angelo A.J. Crooms, would not face criminal charges.
10 hours ago by Lillian Hernández Caraballo (WMFE)
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No charges will be filed against the Brevard County deputy who fatally shot two Black teenagers in Cocoa on Nov. 13.
Sixteen-year-old Angelo Crooms and 18-year-old Sincere Pierce were inside what was believed to be a stolen Volkswagen Passat when they were shot to death by Deputy Jafet Santiago-Miranda.
State Attorney Phil Archer said in his statement that he ran an exhaustive investigation and that, while he knows the boys’ families are hurting, he is basing his decision on “facts and evidence.”
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Arm in arm, the families of two teenagers killed by a Brevard County sheriff s deputy in Cocoa last year walked with high-profile civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump to the lawn outside the Harry T. and Harriette V. Moore Justice Center in Viera Friday.
With a crowd of around 50 supporters, Tallahassee-based Crump and co-counsel Natalie Jackson announced officially the filing of a lawsuit against Deputy Jafet-Santiago-Miranda and the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office for the shooting deaths of 18-year-old Sincere Pierce and 16-year-old Angelo A.J. Crooms on Nov. 13, 2020.
Attorneys for families of teens shot, killed by Brevard deputy seek DOJ investigation
State Attorney’s Office released report this week that found shooting justified
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AJ Crooms, 16, left, and Sincere Pierce, 18, right. (WKMG 2020)
BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – Attorneys representing the families of two teens killed in a Brevard deputy-involved shooting are calling on the Department of Justice in a lawsuit to investigate the shooting and policies at the sheriff’s office.
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“Just because the state attorney says it’s legal, that doesn’t make it right,” Crump said in reference to the 12-page report released by the Brevard and Seminole State Attorney’s Office on Wednesday.