JACKSON, ma’am. — A mother says she wants justice for her 17-year-old son who died when a police SUV ran him over in the small Mississippi Delta town where he lived.
Kadarius Smith and one of his cousins were walking on March 21 when a Leland Police Department vehicle chased them and fatally struck Smith, said his mother, Kaychia Calvert. He later died in a hospital.
“He had his whole life ahead of him,” Calvert told The Associated Press. “They just took his life.”
Police referred all questions to city attorney Josh Bogen, who said officers were responding to a call about an assault in progress. He could not confirm whether Smith was a suspect.
Bogen said it was an “accident” that the vehicle struck Smith.
“The idea that the police officer deliberately ran over the alleged victim is a complete absurdity,” Bogen told the AP.
Smith was black. Bogen said police told him at least one officer involved was also black. Bogen provided no further details.
The AP has requested copies of police reports and police body camera footage of Bogen, but says they are not available during the investigation. The AP filed a formal request for the documents on Friday.
Calvert described her son as “a loving, caring person” who was smart, independent and outgoing. He was in 11th grade and played on the Leland High School basketball team. Located in the plains of cotton and soybean country, Leland has a population of approximately 3,900. It is located about 110 miles (177 kilometers) northwest of Jackson, the capital of Mississippi.
Smith’s family has retained civil rights attorney Ben Crump and they are demanding that the officer who drove the vehicle be fired and that unedited police body camera footage be released.
“It is unconscionable that an officer would fatally run over a teenager who was running away from them,” Crump said.
Bogen said, “There is not a word of truth” in Crump’s statement.
Calvert said her son’s cousin told her he “heard a loud bang” and then saw the SUV lean as if it was about to roll over. She said he told her the SUV had landed on its wheels and landed on Smith’s body.
“My son did nothing wrong,” Calvert said. ‘The police officers just saw two boys walking home, and that’s how it started. My son, he is not a criminal.”
