Questions raised around deadly Aurora police shooting
AURORA, Colo. (KDVR) — The family of a man who was shot and killed by an Aurora police officer earlier this year is coming forward to assert that deadly force should not have been used.
The family says the 37-year-old Black man was not armed and they want answers. Community leaders have concerns, too.
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The shooting happened in the 300 block of South Ironton in Aurora in May.
Denver police had asked Aurora’s police department to help arrest Kilyn Lewis, who law enforcement said had an active warrant for an attempted homicide. The attorney for the Lewis family said police body-worn camera footage shows officers confronting him.
“He was trying to process what was going on reaching into his back pocket. Pulling his phone up to his ear was the movement that got him killed,” said Edward C. Hopkins Jr., the Lewis family’s attorney.
Hopkins said Lewis never threatened police with a weapon. Shortly after the shooting, Aurora police sent out a press release saying the suspect was shot after arriving at an apartment complex.
A police spokesperson said the shooting is under both a routine external investigation and an internal affairs investigation.
Now, a new group called “Justice for Kilyn E. Lewis” is forming with a message saying problems are because of a pattern of misconduct and excessive force at the Aurora Police Department.
“I go back to Jor’Dell Richardson. I go back to Elijah McClain. I go back to the narrative across the country that continues to be painted when a Black individual is murdered by law enforcement there is a narrative that they felt in danger. I’ve never felt in danger because someone pulled their cell phone out,” said Candice Bailey, founder of the Justice for Kilyn E. Lewis Action Committee.
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The Greater Metro Denver Ministerial Alliance also says problems at the Aurora Police Department need to be fixed.
“Here we are again with this situation with Mr. Lewis that there’s a cell phone in his hand and yet he is shot in the abdomen, and he dies because we don’t know how to restrain a Black man but we know how to restrain everybody else,” said Bishop Jerry Demmer, president of the Greater Metro Denver Ministerial Alliance.
Police body camera video of what happened at the scene is expected to be released by Lewis’ family on Thursday. The Aurora Police Department said it would be releasing the video soon as well.
The Lewis family is expected to speak out on Thursday. Additionally, a Justice for Kilyn E. Lewis rally is scheduled to take place in Aurora on Thursday.
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