Savannah Police lied after killing 'unarmed' black man in front of family, lawyer says
Two months after a 20-year-old was killed by police in front of his family on their front porch, a Savannah law firm released an explosive video accusing police of lying about the incident and claiming new evidence revealed the man was unarmed when shot.
The Claiborne Firm, P.C, a civil rights law firm, released the three-minute video called “Savannah Police Shot and Killed Ricky Boyd, Lied about It, and Won't Release the Video,” on Thursday morning. The firm represents the family of Boyd, who was killed by Savannah police officers on Jan. 23.
"Police lied about (Boyd) having a gun when they shot him. They lied when they said he initiated gunfire. And they lied when they accused him of murder in a case that is still open months after his death," William Claiborne, an attorney representing the family, told the Island Packet.
Police arrived at Boyd’s home around 6:15 a.m. Jan. 23 to serve an arrest warrant in the murder of Balil Whitfield, Savannah police said in a press release. Police said Boyd was armed and confronted officers when he was shot by “several” officers.
Later, however, police clarified that weapon Boyd was allegedly holding was a a CO2 powered BB air gun that appeared to be a firearm, according to a press release from the GBI. The GBI said that Boyd raised the airgun toward officers before he was shot.
A newly released photo shows that the air gun photographed by officers, and released by the GBI, was allegedly 43 feet away from where Boyd was shot, Claiborne said.
“In order for the [B.B.] gun that they found—which they claim he had—to be 43-feet away from him, (Boyd) would have had to have thrown that gun as his last act while he was being shot and thrown it quite far,” said Claiborne.
Police said Sgt. Sean Wilson “was struck by gunfire” during the incident, according to the GBI. However, Claiborne points out that police said Boyd was holding a BB gun.
"We still don't know who shot the officer," Claiborne said. "They claimed my client had a BB gun, and the officer was shot with bullets from a firearm."
Boyd was transported to Memorial University Medical Center where he died, while the officer survived his injuries, according to police.
The Claiborne Firm is asking the public to call the Savannah Police and the GBI to release body cam footage of the incident. Claiborne said that the incident is "absolutely" a civil rights case about race.
"There is overwhelming evidence that show how young black men, like my client, are more likely to die from unnecessary police force," he said.
Jameillah Smiley, Boyd's mother, said in the video that the GBI showed her the body cam video without audio following the shooting. She is urging police to release the video to the public.
“They will see that my son never had a gun,” said Smiley. “They will see an innocent person getting shot down – that never had a chance against the people that came and accused him of a crime that he did not commit.”
The Savannah Police declined to comment on the incident Thursday, saying that the investigation is still ongoing.
Public information coordinator Bianca Johnson told the Island Packet that to her knowledge, she isn’t aware that Savannah Police have any intentions of releasing the body cam footage to police.
Both the GBI and the Savannah Police Department are still investigating the incident.
This story was originally published April 5, 2018 at 4:14 PM with the headline "Savannah Police lied after killing 'unarmed' black man in front of family, lawyer says."