PALMETTO, Fla. — Monday night in Palmetto, city commissioners again heard from those demanding answers over the death of a man in November while in police custody. More than a dozen people spoke at City Hall, upset at what they say has been a lack of transparency about how Breonte Johnson-Davis died.
In November, officers went to a gas station after a complaint of a man who was disturbing employees. They say Johnson-Davis jumped onto a patrol car, banged windows and was tasered. Soon after he became unresponsive and died at a hospital. His mother tells 10 Tampa Bay she's heard nothing from police.
“He was unarmed,” Tracey Washington, Johnson-Davis' mother said. “Even if he was a little irate, you have six officers. He was one person. You don't have enough training to handle one person, he was that irate? He didn't deserve to die.”
We checked with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which is investigating the in-custody death. They say they have not completed that investigation yet. Once it's complete, it will be forwarded to the state attorney's office for review. A second, independent investigation is also underway.
Once both investigations are closed, Palmetto Police say they will release video of the incident.
Earlier this month, demonstrators marched from the Palmetto Police Department to the Circle K on the corner of 17th Street and 8th Avenue where police said they received the initial call back in November. Washington previously told 10 Tampa Bay she wants all officers involved to be on administrative leave or fired.