Atlanta woman says police shot, killed her boyfriend without warning

theGRIO REPORT - An Atlanta woman whose boyfriend was shot and killed by Atlanta police is speaking out for the first time since the Dec. 29 incident.

TheGrio Staff

Feb 28, 2015

An Atlanta woman whose boyfriend was shot and killed by Atlanta police is speaking out for the first time since the Dec. 29 incident.

April Edwards and her boy friend, 44-year-old Kevin Davis, were in their apartment when they started arguing with their roommate over the television volume. The roommate, Terrence Hilyard, stabbed Edwards during the altercation and then fled the scene. Davis helped Edwards treat her wounds, and they called 911.

Edwards told BuzzFeed News, she and Davis were in a bedroom when they heard gunshots. Thinking the shots were Hilyard, returning to the apartment, Davis retrieved his gun to confront him.

Shortly after Davis left the room, Edwards heard more gun shots and ran down to the hallway, where she found Davis bleeding, after an apparent confrontation with police.

“Kevin said to me, ‘They shot me April,’” Edwards said. “I turned to the police officer and said, ‘What did you do?’”

According to police, the officer ordered Davis to put down his gun before shooting him three times after he did not comply with the command. Witnesses say there was no such warning.

Edwards passed out at the scene and woke up later in the hospital.

Edwards later learned that the first shots fired, were Dekalb County Police officer, Joseph Pitts, shooting and killing their dog.

Davis and Edwards both arrived at Grady Hospital, where Davis was admitted as an in-custody patient and was charged with felony aggravated assault of an officer. His family was not allowed to see him because Grady’s policy requires police approval for family members to visit in-custody patients.

While she was at Grady, Edwards said she asked for an update “more than several times” on Davis. “Each time they just told me he’s in critical care,” she told BuzzFeed News.

Davis’ family and Edwards say they requested repeatedly to see Davis, but were denied every time. One of Davis’ sisters spoke to The Guardian about her brother and her experience at the hospital.

Davis died on Dec. 31, the same day Edwards was released from the hospital.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigations is investigating the incident, but Edwards believes the whole thing could have been avoided if police had announced their presence.

“We never heard the police announce themselves. Had we heard them announce themselves Kevin would have never retrieved his gun,” Edwards said.