Relatives of Pamela Turner, a black American killed by a police officer in the suburbs of Houston, welcomed Thursday that the author of the shootings was finally charged, 16 months after the tragedy.
"We are a step closer to obtaining the justice that my mother deserves, so that she can rest in peace, with respect," said her daughter Chelsea Rubin during a press conference organized by videoconference.
Agent Juan Delacruz was indicted this week by a grand jury for "assault by a person holding public authority", a sentence punishable by life imprisonment.
His trial is due to open on October 28.
"The lives of black women matter too"
With the $ 12 million in compensation also awarded this week to the relatives of another African American woman shot dead by police, paramedic Breonna Taylor, "this is a clear message that the lives of black women matter too." commented the lawyer of the Ben Crump family, who defends many emblematic cases of the movement "Black Lives Matter".
But Ben Crump lamented that it took that long to secure the arraignment of Juan Delacruz.
Without the efforts of his family, the life of Pamela Turner "would have been swept under the carpet", he regretted.
On May 13, 2019, Agent Delacruz had crossed paths with this 44-year-old woman, whom he knew was being prosecuted for petty crimes, and had decided to arrest her.
After an altercation, he had shot her while she was on the ground.
" I am pregnant "
On a video of the scene filmed by a passer-by, Pamela Turner can be heard declaring: "I am walking, I am going home, you are harassing me!"
»After a thud, she falls to the ground, the policeman overhangs her, tries to grab her arm.
She then shouts "I am pregnant".
The policeman moves away.
The picture stops, but the audio recording continues and five shots are heard.
Lawyer Ben Crump posted this video on Twitter.
BREAKING: Harris County grand jury has indicted Baytown ofc.
Juan Delacruz for the death of Pamela Turner.
The charge is aggravated assault by a public servant, a first-degree felony (5 years to life).
#JusticeForPamelaTurner #SayHerName pic.twitter.com/8OTdhwmBJr
- Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) September 14, 2020
Right after the tragedy, the Baytown police assured her that she was not pregnant and that she had grabbed Agent Delacruz's Taser to shoot him.
The policeman had been assigned administrative duties but had kept his job until his charge.
His name mentioned at the funeral of George Floyd
The family's lawyers deny that she used the Taser and point out that she suffered from mental disorders and that the police officer knew it.
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The case did not immediately garner strong media attention.
But Pamela Turner's name was mentioned at the funeral of George Floyd, an African-American suffocated on May 25 by a white policeman in Minneapolis, and has since resounded numerous times during major anti-racism protests across the country.