A civil rights lawsuit says that when deputies arrested a Georgia woman who fell out of the back of a moving patrol car, they used “unreasonable” and “ultimately deadly” force.
Now, Brianna Grier’s family wants $100 million to get justice for her death.
“There is no reason why Brianna Grier is dead and why she died in such a horrible way,” Benjamin Crump, a civil rights lawyer representing the family, said at a news conference on May 24 to announce the case.
In the lawsuit, the accused are Sheriff Tomlyn Primus of Hancock County, his brother Lieutenant Marlin Primus, and Deputy Timothy Legette.
The tweet below verifies the news:
The complaint names a Hancock County deputy, lieutenant and the sheriff. https://t.co/GgKPhbyOom
— The Ledger-Enquirer (@LedgerEnquirer) May 25, 2023
The Hancock County Sheriff’s Office was asked for feedback on May 25, and McClatchy News was waiting for a reply.
In the 88-page lawsuit, the lawyers say that Grier’s death was caused by “gross negligence” and “excessive force” on the part of the deputies.
They also say that cops wrongfully “seized and restrained” the 28-year-old by putting her in handcuffs and repeatedly picking her up and putting her down while ignoring her cries for help before she fell and died on July 15, 2022.
Grier has been identified with schizophrenia, and his family said he was having a mental health crisis, so they called 911.
According to a story from McClatchy News, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation found that the deputies did not close the back door of the patrol car. Investigators said that deputies put Grier in the back seat “without a seat belt.” They based this on video from the police body cam.
The claim says that she fell out of the car just seconds into the ride and landed “face down on the side of the road about 10 to 12 steps away” from Legette’s patrol car.
In the lawsuit, lawyers say that the mother of two got hurt in the head and didn’t get medical help right away. Grier went to the hospital in a coma, and six days later he died.
The complaint says that at first, the deputies said that Grier had “superhuman strength” and kicked open the door before she “jumped” from the moving patrol car.
“Even after the GBI proved they were lying, Sheriff Primus let his officers’ clearly false statements stand, and he refuses to apologize for the lies he and his officers told,” lawyers wrote.
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In November, the GBI finished looking into how Grier died, and after that, prosecutors decided not to charge the agents involved.
About 100 miles south of Atlanta is the town of Sparta.
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