DEMANDING JUSTICE

Family Demands Independent Autopsy for Black Woman Who Fell to Death From Cop Car

It emerged this week that deputies had failed to close the door to the patrol car.

The family of Brianna Grier is demanding the right to perform an independent autopsy following her death last week due to injuries sustained while in the custody of Hancock County Sheriff’s deputies. As The Daily Beast reported on Thursday, the family of Brianna Grier has retained renowned civil rights lawyer Benjamin Crump to represent them after Grier “fell” to her eventual death from a Hancock County Sheriff’s Office patrol car, according to an ongoing investigation by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. GBI found on Wednesday that the yet-unnamed Hancock County Sheriff’s deputies failed to close the door to the patrol car, despite the fact that the department had previously claimed she kicked it open. “The family has made us aware that Brianna weighed approximately 110 pounds, so when they talk about she had this superhuman strength to kick open the door…for her to have this alleged superhuman strength is just asinine.” Grier—a mother of twins—had been described by family as a smart, loving woman who had experienced increasingly distressful mental health episodes since her diagnosis with schizophrenia. Crump, along with the Georgia NAACP and family members demanded to see body-cam footage. “If law enforcement officers are at fault, identify them, charge them, be accountable,” said Georgia NAACP President Gerald Griggs. “But if you try to cover up, it never works in this state."