Mother of Deon Kay, killed by DC police, wants more body camera footage of son’s death released
WASHINGTON — The family of Deon Kay, an 18-year-old killed at the hands of D.C. police, is suing the department for allegedly withholding footage from the day he was shot. Deon Kay was killed on September 2, 2020 after an encounter with officers near the 200 block of Orange Street in Southeast D.C.
Video from D.C. officers appeared to show Kay had a gun when he was shot. However, loved ones are now publicly calling the footage released last year into question.
Natasha Kay’s life changed in a matter of seconds it took a D.C. police officer to open fire on Deon last year. Natasha expressed frustration in the negative picture painted of her son by police. Though police said he was a known gang member, WUSA9 could not find anything on Deon’s public criminal record in the DMV.
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“There appear to be some conflicts in what was told to the public and what we saw on the native footage,” Yaida Ford said. Ford is representing Kay in her fight to get copies of all the body camera footage from when Deon was killed. Ford requested footage from several officer’s cameras on November 20th in 2020 through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.
The lawsuit filed in March 2020 asks for a preliminary injunction requiring D.C. Police to hand over, what Ford called, unlawfully withheld records.
Those records specifically pointed to the footage from officers’ body-worn cameras at the scene where Deon Kay was killed.