Family demands answers after unarmed Illinois man is killed by police, girlfriend injured

Police in Waukegan, Illinois, shot and killed Marcellis Stinnette, an unarmed teenage Black man ,and critically injured his girlfriend on the night of Oct. 20, NBC Chicago  reports.

Marcellis Stinnette and his girlfriend police encounter

The family of 19-year-old Marcellis Stinnette said he was sitting in a car with his girlfriend and mother of his child, Tafarra Williams, when police shot and killed him. Stinnette’s family said he died at the scene, while police said he died at the hospital.

Williams’ family alleges that police shot her in the stomach and hand, for which she remains hospitalized.

“When I got there, she said, ‘Mama, they just shot us for nothing,'” Williams’ mother, Clifftina Johnson, told ABC 7.

“My daughter said she put her hand up, and if she didn’t put her hand up, she said, ‘Mama, I would be dead.'”

Report of a suspicious vehicle

Police said the incident began when they received a report of a suspicious vehicle, however the families of both victims said they were just sitting in their car outside Williams’ mother’s home. The police said when an officer approached the car to investigate, Stinnette and Williams fled the scene.

Tafarra Williams and Marcellis Stinnette allegedly fled on foot

Another officer reportedly spotted the car nearby moments later, and when he approached the couple on foot, the car reversed. The officer fired his pistol “in fear for his safety,” according to a statement from the Waukegan Police Department given to ABC 7.

“The police officer got out of the car. When he told them to stop, he told her to stop, she was scared,” Mosier told ABC 7. “She put up hands, she started yelling, ‘Why you got a gun?’ She started screaming. He just started shooting.”

Police said they found no weapons in the couple’s car.

The families are demanding answers

At a press conference Wednesday, the Stinnette and Williams’ families said they are demanding more answers and justice in the case.

“We’re looking for peace and justice. That’s all we want,” Francellise Stinnette-Watts, Marcellis’ great-aunt, said. “We want to know what happened. We would like to see the video camera.”

“They were not thugs and were not problematic kids,” family spokesman Ricky Carly said. “They didn’t have any issues with anybody out here.”

The Stinnette family is trying to make peace with Marcellis’ death.

“And the police officer, he’s forgiven,” said Sherrellis Sheria Stinnette, mother of Marcellis. “I have to forgive him. That’s what God wants me to do.”

“We would like justice, but we also would like police reform, said Zhanellis Banks, sister of Marcellis.

Officers involved in the shooting

The officer who fatally shot Stinnette and injured Williams has been fired, authorities announced late Friday.

An officer who shot the couple is Hispanic and had been with the Waukegan Police Department for five years. The officer who conducted the original traffic stop is white, police said.

Through departmental policy, the Illinois State Police will conduct an investigation. Waukegan Police submitted body camera and squad car video to the Illinois State Police, authorities said.

Waukegan Mayor Sam Cunningham encouraged anyone with additional information or surveillance video to bring forth evidence for investigators to make the best decision.