BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. – Thirteen-year-old Stanley Davis III died in December. Attorney Benjamin Crump is representing his grieving family and they want justice and public safety to prevail.
Crump blames Officer Mark Sohn for causing the fatal crash that killed Davis in Boynton Beach. Sohn, who has been with the Boynton Beach Police Department since March 2002, is on administrative leave pending the results of the investigation.
Attorney Jasmine Rand, Crump’s co-counsel, said Sohn has a history of police brutality and racism, and had he been terminated for it Stanely would still be alive.
“This is one of the worst files that I’ve ever seen on an officer,” Rand said during a news conference on Tuesday.
Sohn was involved in two other fatal police chases that ended with the deaths of Cyrus Deal, 38, in 2012 and 5-year-old Jayden Reardon in 2016, who were both Black, according to Rand. There is a pending case against Sohn after the beating of a restrained Black man, Rand said.
The department hasn’t released the dashcam or bodycam video related to Stanley’s death. Surveillance video shows Stanley was riding his red dirt bike when he stopped at a Chevron gas station on Dec. 16 in Boynton Beach.
Stanley’s mother, Shannon Thompson, said her son knew Sohn was dangerous. The fatal crash was at the 800 block of North Federal Highway.
“He was acting in fear as the community feared this officer. The kids, they know this officer, so him coming in contact with this particular officer was a fearful moment for him,” Thompson said.
Stanley was a 7th-grade student at Congress Middle School and he was a member of the Boynton Beach Wildcats/Bulldogs football and basketball teams.
Crump, who represented the families of George Floyd and Trayvon Martin, attended Stanley’s funeral service on Jan. 8 at the St. John’s Baptist Church in Boynton Beach.
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