Unarmed College Student Killed By California Police

Many are calling him another Trayvon Martin. He has a name, and it is Kendrec McDade. Kendrec was shot and killed by Pasadena, CA police officers on March 24th, almost a month after Trayvon Martin was killed.

McDade was shot and killed by police officers after police received a phone call that a robbery was in process. There are so many things wrong with this case. One, he was unarmed. Two, the 911 caller had lied about the teen having a gun.

The death has led to tension in Northwest Pasadena area where African American residents say they were reportedly mistreated by police.

Pasadena police say this case doesn’t compare to Trayvon Martin, as McDade was allegedly a look out while his accomplice attempted to break into a cash register at a local restaurant. Lt. Phlunte Riddle of the Pasadena police department reportedly said race was not a factor in the killing but a ” response to an armed robbery that had just occurred with a full description.” He added that his officers felt their lives were in danger and were “highly upset” by the incident.

The 911 caller who lied about McDade having a gun is 26-year-old Oscar Carillo, who allegedly told police that two Black men stolen his backpack and computer from his car at gunpoint. He also told police that he was following the men and they split up, both running up different streets.

Police reportedly caught up with Kendrac McDade in an alley and opened fired on the teen because they thought he was reaching for a gun in his waistband. The 19-year-old who didn’t have a gun, was shot multiple times and later died at a local hospital.

Kendrec McDade was a college student and football star with no police record or gang affiliation. Family, friends, and activists are calling for action by demanding justice for the slain teen. Those who knew him say he was a good kid, “the apple of his mother’s eye.” The other teenager, who was 17, was arrested and charged with robbery.

The parents of McDade have filed a lawsuit, saying their son’s death is apart of a pattern of abuse by the department and “that the investigation “reeks” of a cover up”.

The lawsuit alleges McDade was apart of a pattern of police abuse and killings of black people in Pasadena, including Leroy Barnes Jr. who was shot 11 times by police officers.

Kenneth McDade and Anya Slaughter allege in the wrongful death and civil rights lawsuit filed on Tuesday that the Pasadena police department tried to cover up its wrongdoing in the shooting death of their 19-year-old son Kendrec McDade on March 24.

In the lawsuit, it says Officer Jeffrey Newlen shot McDade several times after pursuing him on foot, while another officer, Mathew Griffin, fired several shots from his police cruiser. The lawsuit also alleges McDade was never instructed to stop and police reports do not show the teen defied police officers.

McDade’s mother told the Associated Press, “I want the world to know that he’s not what the Pasadena police has portrayed him to be. He was one of those kids who stayed in school,” she said. “I don’t believe he did anything wrong. I think he was at the wrong place at the wrong time.”