T.The family of a Georgia man who was shot dead by black police in April demand transparency and accountability in the ongoing investigation into his death.
On April 12, Decatur resident Matthew Zadok Williams, 35, was shot dead in his home by DeKalb County police. Police were called to Williams’ apartment after a neighbor falsely claimed he tried to raid his own home.
The published body cam footage shows Williams’ interactions with the officers before his death.
“Hey how are you? What are you doing here? You live here?” says an officer to Williams in front of the camera.
Williams then lunges at an officer with a knife, and an officer returns with his gun fired at Williams before escaping to his house.
“I’m begging you. You’re black. I’m black. You don’t have to die today. I don’t want you to die today,” says one of the officers through the front door. The officer is identified by his last name, Perry. ” I defend my property, “Williams replies.
“Let me see (the knife) fall. I can get you an ambulance out here. We can talk about it, ”Perry continues. “This is my property,” says Williams.
Police claim Williams pounced on police officers again and asked a police officer to fire three shots in the house.
The Williams family claims he was experiencing a mental health crisis and made a number of claims to better facilitate relations between Williams’ family and investigators. His family claims that once the police arrived and checked Williams’ condition, they should have summoned a mental health attorney to intervene.
“Immediately release ALL media related to the murder of Matthew ‘Zadok’ Williams,” his sister Hahnah advocates a campaign of the Color of Change aimed at law enforcement officers. “This includes, but is not limited to, emergency call records, transcripts and reports from medical examiners.”
Williams is also calling for the officers involved to be dismissed and for their full names and proof of employment to be published. She claims Williams was kneeling behind furniture in his house when he was shot.
“Such tremendous disregard for my brother’s life speaks to the policing culture in DeKalb County and across the country,” Williams continues. “Police officers are rarely held accountable for killing, molesting, and ambushing black people, and my family is determined to do everything in our power to ensure that these police officers are held accountable and that other families in DeKalb County do not endure have to go through what we have had to go through. “
Williams also writes that little humanity was offered to her brother during his death when officials kicked the door and that he was not given timely help that could have saved his life.
A private autopsy report made by Williams’ family found that he was bleeding slowly and leaving his pulse slowly. His body was in the house for an hour before it was removed and his family was not informed of his death until 24 hours later.
Not all officers involved have reportedly been fired or charged, but police officers told 11 Alive that two investigations are ongoing.
The police claim that the officers acted fairly under the circumstances.
Williams’ family described him as a fun-loving youngest sibling of six who enjoyed hanging out with his nieces and trading stocks.
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