Family of black man killed by Aurora police while holding phone calls for murder trial

By Colleen Slevin, The Associated Press

The family of a black man who was holding a cellphone when he was shot by a SWAT officer called for a murder trial against the officer on Thursday after portions of bodycam footage of the shooting were made public.

Kilyn Lewis, 37, was shot on May 23 as police officers arrested him in the parking lot of an Aurora apartment complex. In the video, the officers, apparently exiting unmarked vehicles, can be heard yelling at him to get on the ground. After taking a few steps to the side of his car and placing his right hand behind his back, Lewis appears to surrender, raising his arms in the air.

He was holding a cellphone in his right hand, it was later determined, Acting Police Chief Heather Morris said in a video released by police that includes portions of the body camera footage. Morris also pointed out that Lewis had put his hand in his left pocket before raising his hands.

Just as Lewis bends his legs as if he is going to lie on the ground, a police officer fires a single shot at Lewis. Lewis says, “I have nothing. I have nothing. I have nothing.”

The other officers did not shoot Lewis. A warrant had been issued for Lewis’s arrest after he was suspected of being involved in a May 5 shooting in Denver that left one man injured, Morris and court documents show.

Lewis’ mother, LaRonda Jones, said the officer should be prosecuted like anyone else and called on the local district attorney and state attorney general to uphold and enforce the law. But she said her son’s “apparent murder” is part of a larger problem with policing in Aurora, where another Black man, Elijah McClain, died in 2019 after being stopped by police on his way home from a store. Two paramedics and a police officer were convicted in his death.

“This is not just about one police officer or one incident. This is about a broken system that devalues ​​black lives,” Jones said at a news conference with Lewis’ father, wife and older brother, as well as the family’s lawyers.

Aurora police declined to comment beyond the police chief’s statements in the video, citing ongoing investigations into whether the officer should be prosecuted and whether department policies were followed.

A working phone number for the officer who shot Lewis could not be found after a search of an online database. A call and email message sent to the Aurora Police Department’s two police unions were not immediately returned.

One of the family’s lawyers, Edward Hopkins Jr., said Lewis appeared surprised to see police officers pointing guns at him and shouting orders, comparing it to the actions of a gang.

Hopkins also criticized police, saying they released the video in a way that was most favorable to officers in order to gain public support. Members of Lewis’ family were allowed to view video of the shooting last week, he said.

“They wanted to start the conversation in their own way,” he said of the police.

In response to a request, police did not immediately release the raw footage of the shooting.