An officer with the Baytown Police Department turned himself in on Tuesday after being charged with aggravated assault by a public servant related to the fatal shooting of a Black woman last year.
Officer Juan Delacruz shot Pamela Turner on May 13, 2019 at the apartment building in which they both lived, reportedly attempting to take her into custody due to outstanding warrants for her arrest.
Authorities allege that it was then that Turner resisted arrest and claim she was able to get hold of the officer’s taser and shocked him with it. Delacruz then fired his gun and killed Turner.
Last year, civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump said family members checked records and found no active warrants for Turner’s arrest. Court records showed at least one misdemeanor charge of criminal mischief was filed against Turner on May 2.
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In an interview last year, one of her sisters, Antoinette Dorsey-Jones said Turner, 44, suffered from schizophrenia and was suffering a mental episode when she was confronted by the officer, with whom she had prior encounters.
The investigation was conducted by the Harris County District Attorney’s civil rights division and the Texas Rangers.
“Ultimately, we presented all of the evidence to a grand jury that determined the Baytown Police officer should be charged with a crime for his actions when he shot Ms. Turner,” Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said in a written statement. “We respect their decision and we will be moving forward with prosecution.”
“The news that my family received on Monday is the exact reason why we have not stopped calling my mother’s name for the past 16 months,” Turner’s daughter, Chelsea Rubin, said during a Zoom news conference on Thursday. “I prayed for this moment numerous times, and I prayed that my mother’s death would not be in vain and that she gets the justice that she deserves.”
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