Malcolm Williams’ mother still wakes up in a cold sweat with nightmares about the night her son died at the hands of Indiana State Police.
“It wasn’t a dream,” said Tara Bryant, who has lost three children to gun violence. “It was my reality. My son was gone I didn’t understand why God would take my baby boy from me.”
Williams’ family called for police reforms Monday during a press conference in Jeffersonville, Ind. held with Black Lives Matter protesters.
ISP Trooper Clay Boley shot and killed Williams, 27, in April. What happened that night is in dispute. Boley pulled Williams over in the early hours of April 29 because over a problem with the vehicle’s tail lights.
A summary of the incident says Williams went for his gun and fired at the state trooper. Antoinette Webb, the mother of Williams’ last-born child, was in the car and pregnant at the time of the shooting. She said Williams did grab his pistol, but held it by the barrel to hand it over to the trooper.
Boley shot Willliams six times, including four times in the back. There’s no video evidence because neither Boley nor his police vehicle were equipped with cameras.
Williams’ family and Black Lives Matter are demanding ISP fire Boley for the killing and commit to a timely and transparent investigation.
They also want diversity and de-escalation training officers and mandatory dash and body cams for all officers, said protesters, who declined to give their names.
Webb doesn’t feel like she can move on from that night until she sees justice for Williams, she said.
“I just want to get justice for Malcolm so I can move on with my life because that night is like where my life is still at, even though it’s months later, I’m still there," she said.
In August, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb issued an order that all Indiana State Police troopers must begin using body cameras by spring 2021.
Earlier Jeffersonville joined other Indiana communities when it committed to a 5-year, $522,000 body cam program for its 91-officer department.
