COLUMBUS–A Columbus police officer shot dead a black teenage girl on Tuesday afternoon as a guilty verdict was handed down in the Derek Chauvin murder case, a family member said.
The shooting victim has not been officially identified, but was named by a family member on Tuesday night as 15-year-old Makiyah Bryant.
She was a good child. She was loving, ”said Hazel Bryant, who said the child was her niece, to reporters on the east side of Columbus. “She was 15 years old. She didn’t deserve to die like a dog on the street. “
Bryant said her niece lives in foster care on the east side of Columbus, where the deadly shooting took place. She said several adult women had come to foster care and an altercation started with the teenager, who called for help from the police and her biological father and grandmother. She picked up a knife to defend herself, Bryant said.
According to Bryant, who said she had been told about the events by Makiyah’s grandmother and father, Makiyah was standing in front of the house to fend off a physical attack when the police arrived, and she had already dropped the knife in the yard. But the police shot her four times without any warning, she said.
‘The police are going to lie. I am so grateful that someone from the family was actually there, ”said Bryant. ‘The police are going to lie. The police are going to hide themselves. They don’t care. At this point I feel like they are just out to kill black people. They are not here to protect and serve. That will not happen. That was a long time ago. They are not here to protect and serve. They are here to kill black people. ”
The Columbus Dispatch reported that police officers were sent to the scene after a 911 caller reported an attempted stabbing and said a woman tried to stab them.
Bryant disputed information circulating in the local media that Makiyah had attempted to stab someone and appeared to be a threat, saying Columbus police had released false information to explain the shooting. “I’m overwhelmed,” said Hazel. “It’s terrible.”
In an interview with The Daily Beast, Bryant’s great-grandmother Ila compared Makiyah’s death to that of Breonna Taylor, who was shot and killed in a no-knock attack on her apartment in March 2020.
“It looks like the police wanted to do that, kill her. I’m just trying to figure out why, ”said Ila Bryant. “We have to remember to love each other.”
A woman identified as Tay Jones wrote on Facebook that she had witnessed the shooting and reportedly posted a video on the spot. She said the 15-year-old had a knife “because someone tried to jump her.” The white police officer who shot her never told her to lay down the knife, according to Jones.
The teenager was transported to a nearby hospital, Mount Carmel East, where she succumbed to injuries sustained in the shooting, local station NBC 4 reported. to review violence. The police information office did not respond to a request for comment.
The 911 call that the police brought to the scene had reportedly called an attempted stabbing.
A group of about 20 residents soon gathered nearby at the intersection of Legion Lane and Templar Street, near where police had blocked the scene of the incident. The group sang “Black lives matter!” and “No justice, no peace!” and “No racist police!” Three neighbors who said they did not want to speak said The Daily Beast police had murdered a 15-year-old girl.
Video of the scene shortly after recording showed a person lying on the floor in jeans and bright sneakers as bystanders yelled at the police.
The murder took place at the time the verdict was announced in the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. Chauvin was found guilty on all three counts in the death of George Floyd, an unarmed, 46-year-old black man, in May 2020.
Local Columbus Exodus Nation activist KC Taynor told The Daily Beast that the latest police murder made it impossible to celebrate Chauvin’s verdict.
“It’s another murder,” he said. ‘They are animals. They treat us like animals. “