To Live

---

James Smith has wanted to never do much with The Police , but he called them to Check on his neighbors in the Texas City of Fort Worth , because it was late at night and your door was Wide Open . Soon after, he heard a gunshot and later saw The Body of a 28-year-old woman, his neighbor, the daughter, carried out on a stretcher.

James Smith is angry, hurt and tired. Every death of a black person in The Hands of a Police Officer brings him Back To The Moment in October, when Atatiana Jefferson was killed.

"I Live With this guilt, with this cloud Over Me for the rest of my years," he says. Because he was The Reason that The Police there in The Night .

At about 02:30 on 12. October, he was awakened by his niece and nephew, who told him that The Door of his neighbor's house was Wide Open , and the lights were on.

the owner of The House , Yolanda Carr, had a Heart Condition and had to. recently, in and out of the intensive care unit, Smith said, was worried that something had happened to her

He went across The Street and noticed The Lawn mower and other garden equipment were still connected, which he thought was strange.

he request, the dialing of A Number from the phonebook, a "wellness Check " - in the expectation that a policeman would come knocking at The Door and Check The Family was in order.

He knew that Carr was in the hospital That Night , and that Her Daughter and grandchildren were up late into The Night playing Video Games .

Atatiana save up to medicine

was standing right in front of The House , as The Police arrived.

One of the officers, Aaron Dean, had drawn his weapon as he approached The Front door And Then went to the side of The House to the garden. Seconds later there was a shot.

"When the ball went out, I Heard her spirit say, 'do not let them get away with it,'" says Smith.

"And that's pretty much why I stayed out All Night long, until they brought them out. "

The Police filled soon The Road , but they would not tell him what had happened. It was not until they had been killed-on-wheels, a body six hours later that he knew Yolanda Carr's daughter, Atatiana Jefferson, was.

The two families were still learning to know each other. Yolanda Carr, who had bought The House Four Years previously, and was very proud of it.

your house is separated from James Smith by a road and its width, green, manicured lawn.

James Smith remembers Atatiana, whenever he looks on The Road

Miller was a veteran of the neighborhood. He grew up with children and grandchildren there, and five members of His Family Still Live on the same street.

Keeping The Yard straight is like a ritual in the area, he says, a, the Atatiana, had to adopt The Family quickly. He describes Yolanda Carr as a hard-working woman. "They had some problems in life that they overcame, and at her home she was the trophy. "

Atatiana stayed in The House while their mother was sick. She was saving for Medical School , while the care of their mother and her eight-year-old nephew.

a few days before The Killing there was a car accident on The Road , James Smith . Atatiana rushed to help them, and they remained with The People in The Car , until The Ambulance came. That was just their nature, he says.

"should you say to a doctor," he said, before he silent for a moment. "But that will not happen now. "

Sometimes he would mow your lawn for you, Atatiana would bring him water, and you want to chat. The Day she died, she had to do The Lawn mowing in yourself, your nephew, how it shows.

the shots from The Officer 's Body Cam , to be released, after she was killed, officer Aaron Dean can be seen walking up to a window at the back of The House , where Atatiana displayed briefly.

"Put your Hands Up , Show Me your hands!" he screams. He has hardly spoken to the end, as he fires through The Window . He has never explained he was a policeman.

Aaron Dean resigned before he could be fired. He was quickly arrested, and in December he was charged with murder, but The Trial has been delayed by the Corona-Virus-pandemic.

Fort Worth Police Chief Ed Kraus said he could "no sense" to lose why Atatiana Jefferson had in your life. In a Press Conference , he seemed emotional as he spoke about the damage her death had done to the relations between The Police and the community.

But James Smith this does not find that reassuring. Atatiana has destroyed death, he had little confidence in law enforcement.

"We don't have a relationship with The Police , because we do not trust The Police ," he says. "So, if we can stay out of the way, We Are fine. "

He is more cautious than ever, to call you. Recently, when his sister heard gunshots in the neighborhood, she asked him to Call 911 , but he refused.

"It is an experience that you would have to, unfortunately, to understand a person of color," he says. "I won't kneel to The Police and hugging people, because We Are kneeling and hugging and praying for 60 years. "

believe that the case is being pursued against Aaron Dean, right. It troubled him that no one from law enforcement came to speak with him since The Night of The Shooting . It is his belief that if he had not spoken to the media The Following morning, Atatiana of death could not been studied.

He is also upset with the pace of the study.

"With the pandemic, Los you said, it could be 2021 before the thing starts. On The Other hand, it had been a person, or color, we would have tried, convicted, and have begun our punishment already," he says.

"We Are still with our breath. You will excuse the expression, but we can't breathe. "

There Are approximately 1,000 "officer shoots", in which someone is killed each year in the United States. These statistics Are not collected centrally, but the various organizations and researchers have compiled the data, the reports, mostly from the media.

According to one of these organizations, Mapping Police violence, in 2019 Black People , 24% of those killed represented by The Police , despite only 13% of the population.

Dr. Philip Stinson of Bowling Green State University also has an extensive database compiled, on The Police of The Crime , the analysis of cases in which Police were arrested, found out, that The Police crimes against Black People Are prone to violence more often than The Police crimes against other peoples.

Police Officer Aaron Dean was booked in Tarrant County jail, Two Days after Atatiana Jefferson ' s

Beliefs on killing for these crimes Are rare. Between 2013 and 2019, Mapping Police violence, More Than 7,500 cases in which officers shot and killed someone, but according to Stinson database, only 71 were charged with murder and manslaughter, and only 23 have been convicted of A Crime in connection with The Killing .

Since 2005, Stinson

is calculated, If James Smith was to speak on TV, his neighbor, died, he learned that This Was the seventh officer rotation involved working in 2019 in Fort Worth , a town of less than a million people.

But shootings Are only part of The Problem . In the middle of The George Floyd protests at the beginning of June, a Fort Worth Police Officer by the name of Tiffany Bunton spoke about the death of her uncle in Police custody two years ago.

Christopher Lowe, died in the back of a Police vehicle after being detained by two Police officers. The Body of the camera footage of his arrest shows officers dragging him to her car.

It is disturbing to see. If he is compliant, during the arrest, the officers mock Lowe, as he struggles to get up and go. He tells them that he is sick.

"I can't breathe," he says, "I'm dying. "

"don't pull that [expletive]," The Officer says. And later, "If you spit on me, bud, I'm going to dirt Your Face in the [expletive]. "

Thirteen minutes later, Lowe was found dead of an overdose in the back of The Car . Tiffany Bunton believes that his death may have been prevented if the officers had called an ambulance, not ignored, but its symptoms, and insulted him when he told them that he was unwell.

Five officers were fired, in January of 2019, as a result. A year later, two of them got back their jobs.

I, James Smith , asked if he was familiar with this case, he simply replied, "This is what We Are going through. So we can avoid The Police as well as we. "

Two Weeks after Atatiana the funeral, her father, Marquis, Jefferson, died of a Heart Attack . His brother believes that it was grief that killed him.

she wore a T-shirt covered in portraits of Her Daughter , and lying on a pillow that Smith had been decorated with a print of Atatiana Face .

A blanket and pillow with pictures of Yolanda Carr, and their daughter, Atatiana

In The Statement , The Mayor mentioned Floyd by name, but Atatiana referred to as Fort Worth , the "own tragedy."

us police killings, george floyd death, united states, texas, police brutality

Source of news: bbc.com