On October 28, Juanita Donald called 911 to ask for help with her mentally ill son. He was refusing to take his medication and she was seeking to have him transferred to the Apalachee Center for medical help. She never expected what
happened next:
Juanita says all Donald did was walk off from the officer and said he "didn't want to be bothered." She says, "Just grabbed him and he tased him. Then when he grabbed him and tased him, he rushed my son off in the bathroom and I heard three shots. I was like, you shot my son and he was like, I had to. I said, no, you didn't have to."
Donald says her son did not have a weapon.
Sergeant Charles Brown was identified as the officer involved and he's been placed on administrative leave. Last week, Kaldrick Donald's family
held a rally:
Thursday, about 50 people walked from the home of Donald's grandmother, Juanita Smiley-Keys, to Gretna City Hall, where the doors had been locked, and then to a nearby church.
"We're going to stand up for Kaldrick. We want truth for Kaldrick, and we want justice for Kaldrick," said the family's attorney, Craig Brown, who was joined by Kaldrick Donald's mother Juanita Donald, his sister Shemeka Donald and Smiley-Keys.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating,
but:
State officials are conducting the investigation, and when it concludes the state attorney will present the evidence to a grand jury. That jury will determine whether to press charges against the officer, but such charges are exceedingly rare.
This country needs to seriously address how we deal with mentally ill people. Far, far too many end up dead after confrontations with police. See the
WCTV video report below the fold.