Mom demands release of police body cam footage, says she saw 15 bullet wounds in son’s chest
Quieauna Wilson said her son had run-ins with Detroit police before his death, and they were aware of his mental health condition.
A mother alleges that she saw 15 bullet wounds in her son’s chest after Detroit police shot him instead of addressing his mental health crisis. She has demanded transparency and requested that the police department make public the body cam footage of the incident.
According to the Detroit Free Press, Detroit police officers shot and killed Porter Burks, 20, on Oct. 2 on the city’s westside. Quieauna Wilson, his mother, said her son had schizophrenia and was experiencing a mental health episode.
Burks’ brother summoned police because his sibling had a pocket knife, and he wanted officers to take it away and send him to the hospital for treatment.
“Just to send EMS out so that they could get him back to mental treatment, that’s all we just wanted him to get back to the mental treatment,” Porter’s brother Damondo Anderson told Fox 2 Detroit.
Wilson said Anderson feels as though his brother would still be here if he hadn’t called the police, the Free Press reported. The grieving mother is calling for justice and accountability in her son’s death.
“Release the footage,” Wilson said, according to the Free Press. “I want it out. I want it everywhere. He didn’t deserve this.”
Wilson said police shot her son more than 24 times. She claimed she saw at least 15 bullet wounds on her son’s chest when she removed the sheet covering his face to identify his body.
However, the Detroit Police Department officials only verified that officers shot the man “multiple times.”
Detroit Police Cpl. Dan Danakowski told the Free Press he does not know whether or when the department would disclose body camera footage. Police have not revealed the names of the officers involved and have stated that the inquiry is still underway.
A witness told Fox 2 that the officers tried to defuse the situation by asking Burks to put the knife down. Detroit Police Chief James White told the news station that officers used Tasers on Burks when he allegedly lunged at officers with the knife, but the Tasers did not stop him.
“My condolences to the suspect’s family,” White said at the scene, the Free Press reported. “Anytime the department has to use fatal force, that is not our desired outcome.”
Wilson said that her son had run-ins with police before his death, and that they were aware of his mental health condition.
“That’s a pain you would never be able to heal; my sister is hurting. We are hurting,” said Michelle Wilson, Burks’ aunt, Fox 2 reported. “You know he had a mental health issue. You’ve dealt with him before. Why would you kill him?”
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