The Execution of Deven Guilford

[XLFD]

Quite often, our first introduction to a story of an unjust police use of force that leads to a fatality is by a news agency reiterating the surviving police officer's report of what happened later that day.  All too often, when that initial story comes under question due to irregularities, footage, or surprise witnesses coming forward with contradictory data, the media and the local authorities try their best to ignore the same.  

This incident which takes place in Eaton County, roughly 150 miles away is one of those stories.  Early reports of the story indicate a struggle occurred, doesn't indicate what was involved and has the state police offering their version before their investigation.  Since then video from the officer's body cam has surfaced, yet the video from his vehicle was not available and would have settled quite a bit.  The officer's account of the events has been called into question. 

But even with some damning evidence to the contrary, the prosecutor's opinion on why he wouldn't be seeking any charges is a surreal read, even more so than our own prosecutor's opinion about why a state trooper was justified for shooting Bill Marble in his home one year before this teen's death. 

So instead of subscribing to the exposed fiction of the police report, instead of accepting that report as gospel as the mainstream news did, or trying to piece together a mythology of apologism as created by the Eaton County Prosecutor, I present the family's statement they made after the prosecutor chose unaccountability back in June, followed by the raw video of the event which they had access to.

“Around 8:00pm on February 28, 2015, our 17 year old son and brother, Deven Guilford, was killed as a result of being shot seven times by Eaton County Deputy Sheriff Sgt. Jonathan Frost. At the time, Deven was merely traveling to his girlfriend’s house after playing basketball at his church. Deven was stopped by the officer because Deven flashed his bright lights to alert the oncoming officer that his brights appeared to be on. Notably, Deven was the third person that the officer had pulled over that night for flashing brights at the officer, who was driving a brand new police vehicle with high-intensity head-lights. During this traffic stop, it appears that Deven was puzzled and confused about why he was pulled over and why he was being confronted by the officer. It appears that the officer did not make any reasonable inquiry of Deven that could have helped ease the tensions of the situation.

The Eaton County Prosecutor, after reviewing the investigation by the Michigan State Police has determined to not bring any criminal charges against Sgt. Frost. Based on what we know at this time, our family believes that our son should not have been killed on the night in question.

There was no reason or necessity for the officer to physically remove our son from the car without considering other options to avoid an unnecessary violent escalation. These options could have included, keeping Deven in the car to allow more time for the incident to cool down and/or wait for other officers to arrive. It must be also noted that Deven was not in possession or any weapon and emphatically told the officer that he was not armed. We also have serious concerns about whether the officer used unreasonable force against Deven under the circumstances. In this regard, there are questions about whether Deven should have been tased on the side of the roadway and whether the officer had the right to shoot and kill Deven in these circumstances. Ultimately, we encourage those want more information about the encounter to view the full video of the traffic stop leading up to the physical altercation between Deven and the officer. This video is available through the Michigan State Police Department and the Eaton County Prosecutor’s office. We believe this video raises more questions than answers regarding whether Deven should be alive today.

We respect the thoroughness of the investigation and the Prosecutor’s decision. However, we intend to pursue other remedies to vindicate Deven’s civil rights.”

http://wlns.com/2015/06/16/deven-guilfords-family-responds-to-prose...

The case seemed very egregious to Oscar nominated documentary film producer/editor Matthew Cooke who looked into the case and created a video that summarized the basic issues behind the traffic stop, and whether the parties acted appropriately.  He reviews the relevant parts of the video, the background of both, and several inconsistencies.

The terrible thing that such an event shows is that an officer who violates his own training, protocols and the law in becoming what Matthew Cooke appropriately calls a 'bully' killed a young man for trying to let the officer know his beams were blinding other drivers.  The officer who chose to escalate the situation against an unarmed, peaceful, law-abiding, and courteous boy before shooting him seven times, still patrols his beat, while Guilford's heart will never beat again. 

The 'news' of this story is that the family has filed a lawsuit seeking redress.  Unfortunately, even if the survivors get a fair settlement from the pockets of the taxpayers who allow such poorly acting officers to exist, it can't bring their son and brother back.

Deven Guilford Lawsuit. pdf

[stump]

The real point here is a kid is DEAD a 17 year old kid who was just driving down the road and flashed his lights at a vehicle that he though had his bright lights on, have you ever did this? Happened to be a police vehicle driven by a officer who really has a problem of some kind to murder someone over a argument that he [ the officer] started. According to records he stopped others for flashing their lights also, One of those people are lucky they didn't get murdered also. The real problem with this situation is it seems nobody cares, hell this kid is white, white kids lives don't matter?? Didn't see this murder on CNN every day for a month. What the hell is wrong with this society, Throw the cop in jail for life, he is no better than any other person that shoots and kills someone without cause. A 17 year old kid that probably gave the cop some lip shouldn't be dead.

[Real Talk]

Why didn't Deven just give the Officer his ID? That should be a question to.  The answer would be because he was a 17 year old punk who thought he knew more than the Officer.

[Inquiring Mind]

I watched both videos and the CNN video report and what no one has mentioned is why was it necessary to tase this child when he was already on the ground and back up was less than a minute away? It is almost like the officer was trying to punish the boy for not following orders before other officers arrived.

As a nurse my other thought is what weapon did the boy have that could have caused the gash on the officers head and why didn't the officer wait for the ambulance to arrive to have his injuries treated on the scene instead of leaving the scene and letting the blood run dow his face for better pictures?

At what time were the officers pictures taken? As everyone knows a back eye of that magnitude does takes hours to become that discolored. This is truly a tragedy.

[XLFD]

Good points, inquiring-- and stump.  But as is usual, the only people with access to the 'investigation records' are the police, until they are compelled to release them.  This generally gives them months to doctor the narrative if they so wish, and retain the most damning evidence against their guy. 

[Real Talk]

So he can't be taken to the Hospital by a fellow Officer to get checked out for possible head trauma?  Should he have waited there so EMS could look over him instead of trying to save Deven?  Could you imagine the outcry if one Ambulance was there and they worked on the Officer and not Deven?  What about if the Officer would have sat around to wait for EMS to look over him.  There would be "nurse's" saying well the injuries look worse because he waited forever to be looked at.

You are a Nurse you say Inquiring,  while you are taking care of patients with injuries and they may be involved in situation that the police are investigating do the Police ever take pictures of the injuries before you clean them up, stitch them or before a surgery?  Claiming they let the blood run down his face is comical and embarrassing for someone who claims they are a nurse. Also, some people will establish bruising a lot quicker than others right?  Or is everyone the same and EVERYONE who has face trauma don't show signs of discoloration for hours? 

People who believe this cop had a power trip or want to Monday morning quarterback everything he did and believe he wanted to kill this young adult are ignorant.  None of us know his fears, pain or beliefs not being there.  Its very easy to have your own website and come on and say what he should have done after watching a 5 minutes video. 

Inquiring, as a nurse, would it be fair for people to come speak to you after you have treated them and tell you what you did wrong or better yet, have people from outside of the situation come in with no medical knowledge, tell you what you should have done because they read something on WEDMD?

[Willy]

Real Talk

If you want to read what ignorance is all about you should review your own posts. From the evidence presented, only an ignorant person would conclude that this kid was a menace to society and deserved to be shot.

Good points inquiring and stump. not so good for Real Talk.

[XLFD]

WEDMD?  Is that some internet site for marriages that need doctoring?

Nurses and doctors who do things wrong are held to account for deviating from recognized "standards of care".  According to the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), medical negligence is the third leading cause of death in the U.S.—right behind heart disease and cancer.

In 2012, over $3 billion was spent in medical malpractice payouts, averaging one payout every 43 minutes.

In this case, there are numerous instances of the officer not following protocols and deviating from recognized "standards" even when applied to police officials, hence the estate of Deven Guilford will make a killing in any settlement or verdict. 

Just like the officer made a killing of some church-going young white boy whose safety was compromised by the maladjusted officer in the first place for utilizing a vehicle that had maladjusted headlights.

[Real Talk]

Yes, payouts, not people losing their jobs or going to jail.  Like I have been saying X.  It is very easy to sit behind a computer, that you bought with lawsuit money, and Monday morning quarterback everything police officers do.  Its easy for all of us to say, they should have done this or should have done that.  None of us know what the officer was thinking, feeling or going through at that moment.

When you were on the fire department, wouldn't it be wrong for citizens to tell you what you should have done at a fire or an accident when done of us have that training or feel how you felt that exact moment?  We need to stop giving these people a free pass because we feel the officers acted inappropriate.  How do we know what is wrong or inappropriate when we aren't doing their job?

Its your opinion saying that he did things wrong.  But an outsider looking at the video, he was on his back (obvious from the video) and the 17 year old adult is on top of him beating him (obvious from photos of his injuries). If he feels like hes going to pass out, hes got one choice to make, stop the threat.  His choice isn't keep taking the punches until backup arrives and hes dead.

The moral of this story isn't about the officer killing this 17 year old adult.  The moral is, listen when you are given orders or commands.  

[XLFD]

Real Talk,

If you can point me to any existent police training manual that vindicates the officer's actions up to the point where the video and action was indistinct, I will give your odd viewpoint some more credit.  The officer in his own words and admissions, indicates the traffic stop was out of his own frustrations, he opens the car door and grabs the youth without cause, he orders him out on an active road and tases him on the ground when he's otherwise cooperative.

The officer's actions were not based on protocols or training, they were based on impatience and a power trip.

When I was on the fire department, I had my share of constructive criticism of my actions at emergency scenes by my superiors, peers, myself, and even the public.  It's how you learn, and any mistakes you make help complete your training.  The officer here didn't even try to apply his training, he willfully assaulted the boy without any reason and escalated it to the point where it got.  He should be criticized by his peers and superiors, and held accountable for the outcome of his actions, like the criminals he has likely dealt with in his past police work.

 

[Willy]

X, you are exactly right.

[stump]

It looks to me that the back up cops beat the shit out of the cop that murdered the 17 year old kid to make it look like the shooting was proper. Yes a good shooting that pumped 7 bullets into that boy. Any person that has a cut or scrape would wipe the blood running down his face with his hand, arm or sleeve , not just let it run down past his chin and let it dry , No visible smear in the picture, it does make for a good photo op though.

[AQUAMAN]

Very valid points again stump. The ONLY way that cop is going to get off a murder charge had to be just what you pointed out, his own cops wisked Frost away quickly, and put a battery on him to make it appear Devin attacked him first. It's obvious Devin wasn't the type to attack anyone. His drivers license was probably at his girlfriends house, like he originally said. Being his girlfriends car, maybe it didn't have insurance, or he didn't know where that paperwork was, could have been in her purse too. People like Real Talk are making every excuse for this abuse as possible, ignoring facts, ignoring video, ignoring justice. The only people I know that do that type of thing, aren't respectful law abiding citizens, as much as they are cops themselves, or in some capacity with law enforcement. They are NEVER going to admit to wrongdoing, it's not in their DNA, nor narcissist attitudes. And to actually think, that the cops and prosecutor really want people to swallow this sour pill as facts? And let this cop continue like this into the future on our streets? Appalling!