A Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy shot and killed a 27-year-old woman who called 911 to report she was being attacked by an ex-boyfriend, police officials and attorneys for the victim’s family said Thursday. Records show the deputy killed another person in similar circumstances three years ago.
The LA Sheriff’s Department (LASD) said in a statement that on December 4, Niani Finlayson called police and “reported that her boyfriend would not leave her alone, then she was screaming and the sounds of a struggle could be heard.” LASD said deputies could hear screaming when they arrived at the apartment in Lancaster, a city in the northern part of L.A. County.
Her family’s lawyers said Finlayson was inside with her nine-year-old daughter when she was injured by her ex-boyfriend and wanted him removed. The exact circumstances leading up to the fatal shooting are unclear, and the LASD has so far refused to release body camera footage.
LASD claimed in its statement that Finlayson had a knife in his hand and threatened his boyfriend, whereupon deputy Ty Shelton opened fire. The family disputed the police statement, saying Finlayson was clearly a victim of domestic violence, needed help and posed no threat to officers. The coroner said he died from “multiple gunshot wounds.”
Finlayson was a mother of two and her daughter, Xaisha, also witnessed the shooting.
“The police lied about my mother threatening them,” Xaisha said at a news conference with her grandparents on Thursday and called for Shelton to be prosecuted. “She was my best friend. She was always there for me. It’s incredible that she left and never came back. I miss my mom.” The girl said her two-year-old sister kept asking where her mother was and she didn’t know how to answer.
Finlayson’s family filed a legal lawsuit against the county and sheriff’s department on Thursday, alleging wrongful death, assault and civil rights violations.
“There’s someone who calls the police for help and he’s killed by the police he called for help,” said the family’s attorney, Bradley Gage. “When you call the police for help, you think the police will protect and serve you. You don’t expect them to hunt you down and kill you.”
LASD said Thursday it had not formally received the family’s request but would release the body camera footage by next week. The inspector general’s office will conduct a “robust review process in which every aspect of the shooting is thoroughly examined and evaluated to see whether department policies and procedures were followed,” and the L.A. district attorney’s office will determine whether the shooting was legally justified. “The Department is deeply committed to protecting our diverse communities without bias or prejudice,” the statement said.
Shelton could not be reached and the deputy sheriff’s union did not immediately respond to the inquiry.
Previously, Shelton killed 61-year-old Michael Thomas in a similar case on June 11, 2020. Authorities said Shelton responded to a possible domestic violence call and when deputies arrived they demanded he open the door. Thomas’ girlfriend said she later got into a verbal argument with Thomas, who was unarmed, and tried to stop officers from entering, citing the Fourth Amendment. His family said Thomas also feared police would shoot him, and authorities later confirmed Thomas said: “I’m afraid for my life now. You… you just killed someone.”
Shelton fatally shot Thomas in the chest. The murder was not caught on camera. The case was one of a series of LASD killings that caused widespread protests that summer, and prosecutors declined to file charges against Shelton. LASD did not respond to questions about Shelton’s previous homicide.
Finlayson’s mother, Tracie Hall, said her daughter is studying to be a nurse and home care aide, designs her own clothes and wants to create a phone app for children. “I will miss my daughter braiding my hair, the simple things. “It’s so unfair,” he said, adding: “I hope Ty Shelton looks at himself in the mirror and says, ‘I ruined another life for no reason.’ [He] “I put my grandson in great danger.”
“She shouldn’t be allowed to roam free, have a job and provide for her family, because my daughter is not here to provide for her family,” he said.
Finlayson’s father, Lamont Finlayson, said he had recently moved into the apartment and was excited to celebrate his first holiday there: “This breaks me to my core. I can’t eat, I can’t sleep, I can’t walk… They didn’t shock him, they didn’t make a bun, they didn’t hit him with a baton or a beanbag. “They shot him like a dog in his own place… and took a lot from us.”
Thomas’ daughter, Myesha Lopez, said Thursday she was outraged but not surprised to learn Shelton had fatally shot another person: “He was given permission to kill … and yet again he violated someone’s civil rights by going into their home and killing them.” to them.” He said it was especially distressing considering how he and others protested and warned that Shelton was dangerous: “This is the fruit of my greatest fear; for someone else to relive what I went through.”
Local advocates in the Antelope Valley area of northern L.A. County called for Shelton to be fired and charged.
“We want him to get out of there, be prosecuted, and not be moved to another county just to stay in law enforcement,” said Waunette Cullors, co-founder of Cancel the Contract, a group that is helping the family and organizing against police brutality. area. “There is no accountability. The sheriff keeps finding excuses to justify killing us.”
The sheriff’s department has repeatedly been accused of using brutal force against Black women in the area. In June, a deputy was caught on camera throwing a woman to the ground and placing his knee on her outside a grocery store in Lancaster. The woman was recording a police encounter. LASD also released footage of a July encounter in the neighboring city of Palmdale in which a deputy punched a woman twice in the face as she held her newborn baby.
“Sheriffs are running loose in the Antelope Valley and they are allowed to hurt, especially Black women, and nothing happens,” Cullors said. “Everyone sees this as the norm.”