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The sister of Jayland Walker, a 25-year-old Black man killed by police in Akron, Ohio, spoke publicly Wednesday for the first time since the June 27 shooting.
“I just want to know, what was the reason? Why you had to resort to him being gunned down in such a manner?” Jada Walker asked on “Good Morning America.”
Jayland Walker led police on an 18-minute car chase in the city before hopping out and taking off on foot across a parking lot, according to body-camera footage released Sunday.
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When Walker stopped and turned in the parking lot, eight cops opened fire and killed Walker with dozens of bullets. Walker was not carrying a weapon.
Jada Walker told “GMA” she still hasn’t watched the body-camera footage.
“It’s hard to just talk about somebody who you expect to live your life out with,” she said. “We both have our own lives, but we always made sure to check in with each other.”
Police have said Walker had a gun in his vehicle and that he fired a single gunshot during the car chase. However, Walker left the gun in his car when he took off on foot.
“They’re trying to turn this wonderful young man into a monster,” Walker family attorney Bobby DiCello told “GMA.” “They’re trying to turn him into someone that he wasn’t. They’re trying to give him motives, and an intent to harm officers that he didn’t have.”
After officers fatally shot Walker, they handcuffed his body before he was taken to the county coroner’s office.
Ohio state police are investigating the shooting. The eight officers who killed Walker have been placed on paid leave.
“Many black men who have been killed and many families who experience this … it’s really hard,” Jada Walker told “GMA.” “I’ve been saying to myself: In time, it’ll get better. Just looking forward to the future and hoping that we get the right answers and out of answers, just getting justice for him as my main priority.”
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