Natalia Chi
the family of Briana GreerA Georgia mother who died last summer after falling out of a sheriff’s patrol car filed a $100 million federal civil rights lawsuit against the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office, it was announced Wednesday.
The wrongful death lawsuit, obtained by CBS News, names Hancock County Sheriff Tomlin Plymouth, his brother Lt. Merlyn Plymouth, and Lieutenant Timothy Leggett as defendants.
According to the paper, officers “illegally and deliberately seized and detained” Greer, “wrongly arrested” her, “lifted her up and dropped her repeatedly, ignored her cries for help, and sent her to medical treatment.” He was deprived of aid and suffered head and brain injuries.” and ultimately led to her death, distorting her true facts and slandering her. ”
“This beautiful young black woman needed help,” civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Greer’s family in the case, told reporters at a news conference on Wednesday.
On July 15, 2022, Greer’s parents called 911 after their daughter, diagnosed with schizophrenia, threatened to hurt them and her twin girls at their home in Sparta, Georgia.
The two lawmakers who responded handcuffed Ms. Gurría and struggled to locate her. in the back of a police carthe Georgia Bureau of Investigation said at the time.
Less than a minute into the drive, Greer somehow fell out of the back door of the police car and landed face down on the side of the road, breathing but unconscious. She died six days later from her injuries.
The GBI said interviews, body camera footage, and “mechanical tests” conducted in a police car showed that the rear passenger side door of the vehicle Greer was sitting in when she fell was open after she was lifted into the vehicle. It turned out that it “never closed,” he said. vehicle.
According to the complaint, the defendants “acted jointly and in concert with each other.” “Each defendant had a duty and an opportunity to protect Greer from the wrongful conduct of the other defendant, but because each defendant failed to perform such duty and refused to perform, the injury alleged in this case is directly caused it.”
However, Greer’s family later said the Hancock County Sheriff said Greer had fallen after kicking the door open.
“They tried to say that Briana Greer, a young black woman weighing 120 pounds, mother of twin daughters, had superhuman strength and kicked in the police door,” Crump said Wednesday. spoke with his family. “That’s what they wanted us to believe, and they wanted us to shut up and ignore it. Thank God there are families who say, ‘That’s not true.’ “They wanted an answer because in reality they didn’t close the door and secure the car. And she fell out of the car while they were driving on the road.” but she was handcuffed and couldn’t stop her from falling.”
“There is no excuse or justification for why Briana Grier died and why she died in such a horrific way,” Crump added.
CBS News reached out to the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
