HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – Officers from the Hollywood and Miami police department were executing a search warrant when an officer shot 23-year-old James Leatherwood about two months ago. His family wants answers.
Leatherwood, who was a suspect in the Aug. 23 murder of 27-year-old Netrievae White, died in the hospital, police said. Authorities haven't identified the officer who has been on administrative leave since the Sept. 5 shooting.
Initially, investigators said Leatherwood was unarmed. On Tuesday night, officers said there was a firearm on the premises. The case remains under investigation, but Leatherwood's family is growing impatient.
"I went to the police department and all. No body came out to talk to us," said a tearful Chantel Reed, who is Leatherwood's mother. "They locked the door on us."
Police officers say Leatherwood failed to follow the SWAT team's commands to exit the home and went out the back door. Once outside, officers ordered him to surrender but they say he didn't comply and made a sudden move toward his waistband.
Leatherwood's mother said her son was unarmed and once he died in the hospital she didn't get to see her son's body until 16 days after he was killed. She took her questions to city of Hollywood commissioners pn Tuesday night, but they couldn't comfort her.
"I really need to know who that cop was," Leatherwood's sister Cindii Reed said at the commission meeting. "I feel like my family deserves that."