Lawyers say Black man killed by North Carolina police hit with kill shot at back of head

Andrew Brown Jr., a Black man killed by law enforcement in North Carolina, suffered five gunshot wounds, with the ‘kill shot’ penetrating the back of his head as he tried to drive away, the family’s lawyers said on Tuesday, citing an independent autopsy.

Brown was struck with four bullets to his right arm before the fatal shot to his head, the lawyers told a news conference in Elizabeth City, a riverfront community near the Virginia border where the shooting took place last week.

An official autopsy has yet to be released, though the death certificate indicates Brown died of a gunshot wound to the head.

“It was a ‘kill’ shot to the back of the head,” said Ben Crump, one of the attorneys. “It went into the base of the neck, bottom of the skull and got lost in his brain. That was the cause of death.”

The independent autopsy was performed by Autopsy PC, a company led by Brent Hall, who previously served as a medical examiner in Boone, North Carolina, according to its website.

Brown’s death led to six nights of protests in Elizabeth City and came one day after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of murdering George Floyd in a trial that put a spotlight on police violence against Black people.

The Brown family’s lawyers have said deputies belonging to the Pasquotank County Sheriff’s Office continued firing their weapons after Brown drove his vehicle away from them, calling his death an “execution.” The lawyers have also accused officials of withholding evidence after being shown only 20 seconds of footage from one police body camera on Monday.

“An innocent man was killed by law enforcement. Overkill. He wasn’t fleeing. He was trying to run because he was scared for his life,” said attorney Harry Daniels on Tuesday.

North Carolina police killed a Black man while serving a search warrant, shooting him several times as he tried to drive away. #AndrewBrownJr was 42.

The deputy is on administrative leave.

Brown's aunt said: "He was a good father. Now his kids won't never see him again." pic.twitter.com/Hha7PplROn

— AJ+ (@ajplus) April 22, 2021

Pasquotank County Sheriff Tommy Wooten and Chief Deputy Daniel Fogg have said the deputies were trying to serve warrants on Brown stemming from a felony drug charge, and that Brown had a history of resisting arrest. They urged the public to reserve judgment until all evidence is reviewed by the State Bureau of Investigation, which is overseeing the probe of the shooting.

“This tragic incident was quick and over in less than 30 seconds and body cameras are shaky and sometimes hard to decipher. They only tell part of the story,” Wooten said in a video posted on social media on Monday.

Wooten’s office, which did not respond to a request for comment, had said on Friday that seven sheriff’s deputies had been placed on administrative leave after the shooting.

Crump said on Monday that there was evidence from at least nine cameras, including police body cam and dash cam videos, but that Pasquotank County Attorney Michael Cox had decided against showing more evidence to the family.

Cox did not respond to a request for comment.

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Wooten has said his office is seeking court approval to release the video to the public, a necessary step under state law. A court hearing is scheduled for Wednesday on whether the body cam footage can be disclosed to media organizations.

Khalil Ferebee, Brown’s son, said the independent autopsy and video evidence confirmed that his father was trying to “get away” when the officers shot him. A family lawyer said on Monday there were 7 to 8 officers at the scene.

“Yesterday, I said he was executed. This autopsy report shows me that was correct.”

(Reporting by Nathan Layne in Wilton, Connecticut, Barbara Goldberg in Maplewood, New Jersey, and Maria Caspani and Peter Szekely in New York; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Dan Grebler)