Police
19-Year-old unarmed college student, Christian Taylor, fatally shot by police
Christian Taylor was fatally shot by police in what family and the community are calling unjust.
Christian Taylor has become another unarmed person unfortunately fatally shot by police. His family and the community are calling the shooting unjustified.
Christian Taylor shooting
Police say 19-year-old Christian Taylor was attempting to rob a car dealership early Friday morning when he was fatally shot, a claim his family finds hard to believe. Taylor was to begin his sophomore year at Angelo State University in Texas when his life came to an abrupt end.
According to Star-Telegram, around 1 a.m. Friday, police were notified of a burglary in progress at a GMC Classic Buick dealership. Police say a security company called for emergency help after company employees witnessed a man using his car to crash through the dealership’s showroom window.
“The officers went and confronted him. There was an altercation. An officer discharged his weapon and struck the suspect,” Sgt. Paul Rodriguez, a police spokesman, told the Star-Telegram.
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the dead man as 19-year-old Christian Taylor. Taylor was a sophomore at Angelo State University and a member of the football team as a defensive back. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Rodriguez added that Taylor was unarmed when he was shot.
Officer involved
Police identified the officer involved in the shooting as 49-year-old Brad Miller, a recent graduate of the academy, who was working under the supervision of a training officer at the time of the shooting.
Rodriquez told the paper that officers there is no footage of the incident as its department is in the process of getting body cameras.
As a result, authorities are trying to recover security video footage from the dealership.
“We’re having two independent investigations—a criminal and administrative,” Rodriguez said. “As an agency, we take the loss of any human life as serious, but we owe it to our community to conduct a clear and transparent investigation to determine what exactly took place.”
Clyde Fuller, Taylor’s great-uncle, told the Star-Telegram that the story that is being described doesn’t add up. He said his great-nephew was set to return to college and that he excelled at football.
“He was a good kid. I don’t see him stealing no car or nothing like that,” Fuller said.
“I think something is going on that somebody is lying about,” Fuller told the Star-Telegram. “They say he’s burglarizing the place by running up in there? Nuh-uh. Something doesn’t sound right.”
Christian Taylor even left some chilling messages on his twitter that would indicate he was frustrated over police shootings and an unjust system.
I don’t wanna die too younggggg
— October 13th (@he_got_sneaks) July 31, 2015
Police taking black lives as easy as flippin a coin, with no consequences smh — October 13th (@he_got_sneaks) December 24, 2014
Our police system is a joke, when will we ever be protected?
— October 13th (@he_got_sneaks) December 24, 2014
I don’t feel protected by the police — October 13th (@he_got_sneaks) August 12, 2014
Officer Miller has been placed on administrative leave.
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Crime & Justice
New Jersey detective shot and killed after suspects kicked in front door of her home
Monica Mosley, a revered detective in South New Jersey, was shot and killed during a home invasion at her residence, authorities said.
Monica Mosley, a revered detective in South New Jersey, was shot and killed during a home invasion at her residence, authorities said.
New Jersey detective Monica Mosley killed
Detective Sgt. Monica Mosley, with the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office, was fatally shot at her home in Bridgeton on Tuesday night, according to police.
The incident
Bridgeton Police responded to the home around 10:30 p.m. for a report of “several subjects kicking in a front door at a residence,” the Bridgeton Police Department said in a press release.
Mosley, 51, died at the scene, police said.
An individual who had been treated for a gunshot wound at a nearby hospital was detained for questioning in connection with the incident, police said. No additional information on the individual was released.
Law enforcement career
Mosley began her career in 2006 at the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office as a paralegal specialist. She then became a county detective in 2009, “where she served our community with honor, dignity and respect before her untimely passing,” Cumberland County Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McRae said in a statement.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy expressed he was “outraged and heartbroken by the murder” of Mosley.
“As a detective with the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office, Sgt. Mosley served her community with distinction, working every day to ensure the safety and well-being of the people of Cumberland County,” he said in a statement. “This act of violence impacts our entire law enforcement community and all of New Jersey.”
No arrests have been made or charges filed in the case, police said.
Multiple agencies are investigating the deadly shooting, including the State Police Major Crime Bureau, the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office and the Bridgeton Police Department Criminal Investigation Bureau.
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Police
Phoenix police officers punch, taser deaf Black man with cerebral palsy under false claims
A Black man, who is deaf and has cerebral palsy, is facing felony aggravated assault and resisting arrest charges after he was repeatedly punched and tasered by a pair of Phoenix police officers.
Update October 19: All charges have been dismissed against Tyron McAlpin.
Original story
Tyron McAlpin, a Black man, who is deaf and has cerebral palsy, is facing felony aggravated assault and resisting arrest charges after he was repeatedly punched and tasered by a pair of Phoenix police officers.
Tyron McAlpin Phoenix deaf Black man police incident
Acting on false claims from a white man under investigation, body camera video recently released to the public shows officers unexpectedly go after McAlpin, punch him in the head at least 10 times, Taser him four times, and wrap their arms around his neck.
Internal investigation
Despite the incident August 19 being the subject of an internal investigation, Phoenix police and Maricopa County prosecutors continue to pursue a criminal case against McAlpin.
Body camera video of Tyron McAlpin police incident
According to ABC15, Maricopa County Superior Court Commissioner Nick Saccone found there was probable cause for his Aug. 19, 2024, arrest, stating McAlpin fought officers and didn’t comply.
Video of the incident shows officers immediately getting out of their vehicle and attacking McAlpin as he was walking.
McAlpin allegedly attempted to defend himself and fight back against the officers as he was being attacked. As a result, he was arrested and charged with felony aggravated assault and resisting arrest, according to ABC15 Arizona.
According to the police report, McAlpin was arrested by Officers Benjamin Harris and Kyle Sue.
Claims are false says attorneys
McAlpin’s attorneys said body camera video and surveillance footage show the officers’ claims are false and said there’s an obvious explanation for why he couldn’t comply.
“The answer is easy. He’s deaf. He couldn’t understand what they were doing. And he had done nothing wrong,” Showalter told ABC15 Arizona.
“Everything I see in that video is Tyron just trying to avoid being harmed by these officers and that only makes them increase the escalation and the violence that they’re using.”
Tyron McAlpin’s arrest
The arrest stems from a morning call from Circle K convenience store employees who reported that a white man was causing problems and wouldn’t leave the store, records show.
While being trespassed, the man claimed he was assaulted by a Black man and pointed across the street at McAlpin.
Officers Harris and Sue never confirmed the validity of the man’s claims and left him to go after McAlpin.
ABC15 Arizona reports the man’s assault claim was later refuted by store employees and surveillance video, records show.
After reportedly handcuffing McAlpin, his wife arrived at the arrest and told the officers that he was deaf and had cerebral palsy, according to body camera footage. None of the officers at the scene included any information about McAplin’s disabilities.
McAlpin’s initial pretrial conference is scheduled for November 13, and his trial is scheduled for late February.
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Police
Judge rules Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend caused her death, dismisses major charges against former Louisville officers
U.S. District Judge Charles Simpson’s ruling declared that the actions of Taylor’s boyfriend Kenneth Walker, who fired a shot at police the night of the raid, were the legal cause of her death, not a warrant.
A federal judge has ruled that Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend was responsible for the beloved EMT’s death.
From the case, the judge also dismissed major felony charges against two former Louisville officers accused of falsifying a warrant that led police to Breonna Taylor’s door before they fatally shot her.
Judge rules Breonna Taylor’s death was not from warrant
U.S. District Judge Charles Simpson’s ruling declared that the actions of Taylor’s boyfriend Kenneth Walker, who fired a shot at police the night of the raid, were the legal cause of her death, not a warrant.
Charges dismissed
Federal charges against former Louisville Police Detective Joshua Jaynes and former Sgt. Kyle Meany were filed by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland in 2022. Garland accused Jaynes and Meany, who were not present at the botched raid, of knowing they had falsified part of the warrant and put Taylor in a precarious situation by sending armed officers to her apartment.
But Simpson wrote in the Aug 27 Tuesday ruling that “there is no direct link between the warrantless entry and Taylor’s death.” Simpson’s ruling effectively reduced the civil rights violation charges against Jaynes and Meany, which had carried a maximum sentence of life in prison, to misdemeanors.
The judge did not dismiss the conspiracy charge against Jaynes and another charge against Meany, who is accused of making false statements to investigators.
Botched raid
When police executed a drug warrant and broke down Taylor’s door in March 2020, Walker fired a shot that struck an officer in the leg. Walker said he believed an intruder was bursting in. Officers returned fire, striking and killing 26-year-old Taylor in her hallway.
Simpson resolved that Walker’s “conduct became the proximate, or legal, cause of Taylor’s death.”
“While the indictment alleges that Jaynes and Meany set off a series of events that ended in Taylor’s death, it also alleges that (Walker) disrupted those events when he decided to open fire” on the police, Simpson wrote.
Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend lawsuit
Walker was initially arrested and charged with attempted murder of a police officer.
The charge was later dismissed after his attorneys successfully argued Walker didn’t know he was firing at police.
He later filed a federal lawsuit against the city and police and received a $2 million settlement.
CBS reports a U.S. Justice Department spokesperson confirmed to the news outlet that the department is reviewing the judge’s decision and assessing next steps.
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