INDIANAPOLIS — The mother of Sean Reed and her attorney say the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department is lying about how and why he was shot and killed by a police officer last month.
Reed was shot May 6, after leading police on a chase and live-streaming it on Facebook.
IMPD says Reed had a gun and fired it at officers before he was shot and killed.
Attorney Fatima Johnson says that is untrue.
“The narrative that you’ve heard is incorrect, false, misleading. It did not happen,” she said. “Sean Reed did not shoot a gun, did not point a gun, did not brandish a gun at an officer.”
Demetree Wynn, Reed’s mother, described the gruesome details she remembered when she saw her son’s body.
“If you’ve ever seen my son’s eyes, just know, they shot his eyes out,” Wynn tearfully said. “I didn’t get the chance to look at the rest of his body, because I couldn’t get past his face. The only thing I could see was his teeth. That’s how I knew it was my son.”
Reed’s family is asking for the Marion County coroner’s report, a transparent investigation, and IMPD to name the officer who shot Reed and the other officer who was heard saying “I think it’ll be a closed casket, homie” on Reed’s live stream after he was shot.
IMPD Chief Randal Taylor released a statement a few hours after the press conference:
“Nearly a month since the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office declined to review the criminal investigation of Mr. Reed’s death, we continue to await the appointment of a special prosecutor to oversee this process. Our community is rightly calling for the release of information and the fulfillment of our commitment to a transparent investigation with monitoring from federal authorities. This simply cannot occur without the direction and oversight of an independent prosecutor.
This is unacceptable. Our community and this police department deserve better from the criminal justice system.
I join our community members in calling on the Marion County Superior Court to immediately appoint a special prosecutor to oversee the investigation as it proceeds, release information as soon as is possible, and make a swift and thorough charging determination based on the facts of the case.”
