Amaree’ya Henderson family lawyers call for transparency from KCK police, DA
Attorneys representing the family of Amaree’ya Henderson, the 25-year-old man killed by Kansas City, Kansas, police during a traffic stop, said Wednesday they want law enforcement be more forthcoming with details about the case.
Lawyers Kay Harper Williams and Nuru Witherspoon said they’ve been frustrated by what they consider a lack of transparency as the family seeks information about what led up to the April 26 shooting. And they called on Kansas City, Kansas, police and the Wyandotte County District Attorney’s Office to deliver those answers.
Among the issues raised Wednesday was access to the recorded footage from police dashboard and body cameras. Harper Williams said that information is “critical” as they prepare to file a civil rights lawsuit, and the family has the right to review it under Kansas law.
“The issue is that the family has a right, a legal right, to see the body cam footage,” Harper Williams said, adding that they will hold Police Chief Karl Oakman to his word that the family would be given that opportunity.
Harper Williams added that the officer, now on paid leave, has been granted “anonymity” by law enforcement, including KCKPD and the district attorney’s office, saying the release of the officer’s name would be an important step toward transparency.
“We’re already fighting for the body cam footage, we should at least know the officer’s name,” she said.
The lawyers discussed their case following a meeting of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kansas Unified Government’s Law Enforcement Advisory Board. The board, tasked with evaluating racial biases in policing and making policy recommendations, organized time for open discussion about the deadly use of force on Wednesday afternoon.
Among those at the meeting were Wyandotte County District Attorney Mark Dupree and Oakman, the city’s top cop. Both discussed the process under Kansas law of sharing body camera footage, but neither committed to sharing the tapes publicly as some community members have pressured them to do.
State law allows family members of people killed by police an opportunity to view those videos in a private setting. Oakman on Wednesday acknowledged the receipt of that request, saying the videos are generally available within 20 days so long as the department has the ability to make redactions.
On April 26, Henderson, 25, of Independence, was behind the wheel of his car when he was shot twice during a traffic stop in the 1100 block of Metropolitan Avenue, near the 12th Street Bridge that crosses the Kansas River.
Police have said Henderson was killed when a “confrontation” arose, and have declined to share many of the surrounding details. Henderson’s family and lawyers say he was unarmed and did not present a threat to police.
Henderson, who is Black, was driving for DoorDash that night, his mother and girlfriend previously told The Star, and harbored a general fear of police that stemmed in part from an encounter years before when he was unjustly arrested and beaten.
On the night he died, Henderson called his mother over FaceTime and asked her to come to where he had been pulled over. She was on the phone, driving there, when she overheard gunfire.
Sitting in the passenger seat was Henderson’s girlfriend, Shakira Hill. After Henderson refused to get out of the car, Hill recalled, the officer crawled inside and started “grabbing, pulling, punching” him as the car started to move.
Moments later, Henderson was shot twice.
Based on what the family’s attorneys have learned thus far, Harper Williams said they believe the police officer had stepped away from the vehicle when the fatal shot was fired. She and Witherspoon both said the officer apparently placed himself in a confrontation and “certainly” failed to deescalate the situation.
Witherspoon said the officers had a responsibility to Henderson, who had expressed and voiced fear, to tell him he was not in harm’s way.
He added that oftentimes police shootings happen when a person is not complying with and being incredibly aggressive toward officers.
“But this wasn’t that case. We have a guy that he says, ‘I’m afraid, and I want my mother,’” Witherspoon said, adding that the police could have simply waited a few minutes for Henderson’s mom to arrive or made other attempts to help Henderson feel safe in that situation.
“But to go the other direction. There aren’t many cases like this. And then when you create this danger, when you create this chaos, you shoot him and he say he’s responsible for his own death. And it just doesn’t even make sense,” Witherspoon said.
This story was originally published May 11, 2023 at 12:50 AM.
