On September 13th the family of Korryn Gaines filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Baltimore County and the police officer who shot and killed her. According to legal documents, the family plans to sue both the officer and county for $2 million each.
The family’s attorneys J. Wyndal Gordon and Jimmy Bell, who appeared with Gaines’ mother and other relatives, said they need answers to what exactly happened the day 23-year-old was killed at her apartment while executing an arrest warrant. Gaines’ 5-year-old son, Kodi, was also shot and injured.
“The only way we’re going to learn them is by filing a lawsuit and conducting depositions,” Gordon said.
A day after the August 1st shooting, Police Chief James Johnson told reporters that Gaines pointed a shotgun at officers as she held her 5-year-old son prompting an officer to fire. However family and an eyewitness dispute the department’s account of what happened in the seven-hour standoff.
Ramone Coleman, Gaines’ neighbor, says she could be heard asking for a copy of the search warrant. He also recalls Gaines telling officers “put your guns down back away from my door and I’ll come out” and “leave me alone and get the hell away from my house.” Coleman says officers set up surveillance equipment in his home while carrying assault rifles and wearing tactical gear.
Hours later Coleman said he heard a police officer say: “I’m sick of this (expletive), put the gun down.” Seconds later he said shots were fired.
Police dispute this account, saying that the officer, identified as Officer First Class Ruby, fired when Gaines threatened police with her shotgun. Lawyers for the family disagree.
“He did not shoot her because he was in fear that she posed a threat to him or other officers. They had been with Ms. Gaines for approximately seven hours. He shot Ms. Gaines out of frustration, and that is not a legitimate basis for shooting and killing an individual,” said Gordon.
The lawsuit also claims police did not lawfully enter the apartment because they had no firm evidence Gaines was inside.
“An arrest warrant is not a search warrant,” Gordon said. “When they took that key and cracked the threshold of that doorway so they could peer inside, ladies and gentleman, that was a search. It was an unlawful search.”
“Her life mattered. It matters, and everyone who was involved in this, beforehand or afterwards, if you tried to cover it up, we are coming at you civilly,” said Bell.
The county executive’s office said it has no comment on the lawsuit, citing pending litigation.
