MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – The family of a Miami Gardens man killed during a Miami Gardens police operation says protocol violations led to the death of an innocent man. They say they’re now seeking justice.
Daniel Lewis, 27, was killed in late May during a shootout involving agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and police officers with the Miami Gardens Police Department.
It happened in the area of Northwest 161st Street and 27th Place. Police said it was part of a drug task force investigating trafficking in the area.
On Tuesday, family members and their attorneys held a news conference outside of MGPD headquarters.
“I still feel his presence,” Lewis’ mother, Angela Lewis, said.
Attorneys for the family say at this point that have not yet filed a lawsuit. They said the purpose of Tuesday’s gathering was to get the attention of members of all the different law enforcement agencies involved, saying that they want more information about the events leading up to Lewis’ shooting death.
They said law enforcement officers with a drug trafficking task force rolled up on Lewis’ house in pursuit of his sister and didn’t identify themselves before shooting and killing the father of two young children, with another on the way, as the licensed firearm owner approached the back door of his Miami Gardens home with a pistol in hand.
“And Ms. Lewis, she watched as they fired upon and gunned down her son Daniel Lewis,” family attorney Ariel Lett said.
Attorneys said Lewis and his sister did not know that the people in several vehicles with dark tinted windows chasing her were law enforcement officers and said that when his sister called for help, he told her to come home.
“The castle doctrine would seem to apply that you have a man who committed no crimes, who was known that the family committed no crimes and who his sister just ran into the house screaming for her life as the car she was in was being shot at by unknown assailant,” Lett said.
Police said Lewis appeared to have fired a weapon.
“To our knowledge, right now, none of those shell casings match that gun that Daniel Lewis owned,” Lett said. “There’s some unanswered questions.”
An FBI Miami spokesperson said Tuesday, “Out of respect for the ongoing investigation, we will refrain from commenting on its substance.”
An MGPD spokesperson said, “The FDLE and FBI are investigating this incident; therefore, we, the MGPD, are unable to offer any further comment at this time.”