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Ana Sandoval, the mother of Angel Benitez, who was shot and killed by Mesa police, spoke alongside her family and attorney Benjamin Taylor at a press conference.
Arizona Republic
The family of 21-year-old Angel Benitez is demanding justice and an independent investigation for their son, who was fatally shot eight times by Mesa police officers on Friday morning.
His family and their lawyer spoke at a news conference Monday afternoon, naming Benitez as the victim of last week’s shooting for the first time.
They said witnesses say police shot Benitez while his hands were in the air, while police said Monday that his hands initially were up but he dropped them toward his waist, which police interpreted as a threat and shot him.
What police say happened
Police first responded to a Panda Express near Dobson Road and Rio Salado Parkway for reports about a man who was “passed out” behind the wheel of a car, Tempe police spokesperson Detective Greg Bacon said in a statement Monday afternoon.
Officers at the scene learned the car was reported stolen earlier this month, Bacon said. When they were trying to contain the vehicle in the parking lot, Benitez awoke and fled in the vehicle, Bacon said.
According to Bacon, police later found it backed into a covered parking space in Tempe near University and Evergreen roads with Benitez still inside. He initially complied with officers’ commands to put his hands in the air but then “dropped his hands out of their view and towards his waistband” while still the vehicle, Bacon said.
“The five officers involved perceived the movement as a threat, and simultaneously three officers fired lethal rounds, and two officers fired less-lethal rounds,” Bacon said in the release. No weapon was found in the car after the shooting, he said.
Benitez was transported to a local hospital and pronounced dead an hour later.
Video from three body-worn cameras and a neighbor exists but has obstructed views and does not show the shooting, Bacon said, only having audio of officers giving commands for 15 seconds before shooting Benitez. The Tempe Police Department is investigating the shooting.
Family: ‘Eight shots? Come on’
Benitez leaves behind six siblings and his two parents.
“My son was a good son and he didn’t deserve to die the way he did. Not one shot but more than eight shots were given to him and they didn’t find no weapon on him. He’s not an animal,” his mother Ana Sandoval said tearfully at the conference Monday.
They said that he was a loving and caring son who often checked on his mom and dreamed of going to college and starting a family.
They were aware of the police’s statement that body camera footage was obstructed and demanded more information since they say two witnesses have said Angel surrendered.
Benjamin Taylor, the family attorney, said Mesa police are trying to discredit the two witnesses’ statements.
“Police always use the excuse that they ‘thought he had a weapon, so we’re going to shoot him because we thought he had a weapon.’ You can’t think, you have to be right,” Taylor said.
Additionally, Taylor and the family are concerned about Mesa police officers’ inability to deescalate the situation.
“One shot would’ve been enough, but eight shots? Come on; his hands were up,” Sandoval, Angel’s mother, said.
She is asking anyone with information to please come forward to help the family.
To demand justice for the family, Taylor has called for Mesa police and all police in the Valley to wear body cameras in a place where they aren’t obstructed and for that footage to be released victims’ families.
Taylor wants an outside entity like the Department of Justice or the FBI to investigate Benitez’s case.
“We don’t want a cover-up, we want justice, and we want the truth,” Taylor said.
Law enforcement have shot at least 32 people in Maricopa County this year, according to data from the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.
Reach the reporters at [email protected] and [email protected] or follow them on Twitter @curtis_chels and @brookerae17.
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