The family of a Georgia woman who died last summer after falling from a moving police car have filed a lawsuit against Hancock County Sheriff’s Attorney Ben Crump announced in a press conference On Wednesday.
Brianna Grier, 28, wasarrested in Sparta, Georgia, on July 15 after her parents called 911 to seek help for her during a mental health episode, according to NBC News. grier fell out of the rear passenger door less than a minute after beginning the drive to the sheriff’s office, sustaining serious injuries and dying six days later.
“There is no excuse, no justification for why Brianna Grier is dead and why she died in such a horrible way,” Crump said.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation found the rear passenger door “never closed” after two Hancock County officers arrested Grier and put him in the car. The agency said body camera footage showed police officers had no contact with her between the time she got into the car and when she fell out.
No criminal charges were submitted.
The $100 million civil lawsuit According to CBS News, Sheriff Tomlyn Primus of Hancock County, Lt. Marlin Primus and Deputy Timothy Legette as defendants.
Grier was “unlawfully and intentionally arrested and detained” by officers who also “wrongly arrested” her, according to the complaint.
The lawsuit also alleges that officers “picked her up and dropped her multiple times, ignored her calls for help and withheld medical attention, caused her head and brain injuries and ultimately caused her death, misrepresented the true facts, and defamed her.”
The lawsuit alleges that the defendants acted “together and in collusion” with each other, and while they each had an opportunity to defend Grier, they failed.
Crump, who represents Grier’s family, said police claimed the woman pushed open the door and fell out, which he refuted.
“What happened to her shouldn’t have happened,” Grier’s mother said at the press conference. “It hurt me, it really hurt me.”
According to her family, Grier was diagnosed with schizophrenia and was on medication. Her parents reportedly called 911 to report that she was attempting to harm herself and her twin daughters.
