Montgomery, Alabama. — The mother of a 16-year-old who was shot by SWAT police during a no-knock, predawn raid in Alabama has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the police officers and the city of Mobile, claiming the child was “killed in cold blood.”
Randall Adjessom, 16, was asleep in his boyhood house when SWAT officers broke down his front door with a battering ram on November 13, 2023, shortly after 5:30 a.m., while it was still dark outside. Adjessom’s mother, aunt, grandmother, and three sisters, two of whom were minors, were present in the house. The warrant was executed as part of an investigation into Adjessom’s older brother’s alleged marijuana possession and distribution, according to the complaint. The 16-year-old was not a suspect; his older brother was not present and did not live in the house.
The Mobile Police Department called in SWAT officers because the drugs unit was understaffed, according to the complaint.
Adjessom emerged from his bedroom with a gun, which he pointed at the police before retreating with his hands up when he realized he was confronting law enforcement, according to the complaint, which cites sealed body-camera footage.
Adjessom was shot four times by an unknown police in 11 seconds after entering his residence. The lawsuit claimed that police did not offer proper medical care to Adjessom, who did not arrive at an emergency room eight minutes away until 50 minutes after being shot.
According to the complaint, Adjessom’s family members were forced to spend hours in the living room before learning that an officer had shot him.
“Aren’t they supposed to be peace officers?” “How many more young Black boys like Randall must be buried as a result of police brutality before the MPD’s legendary culture of unchecked excessive force is finally put to rest,” Adjessom’s mother, Akouvi Adjessom, said in a statement on Monday.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Mobile, names the city and unidentified cops as defendants and wants unspecified monetary damages. The city attorney and a police department representative did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment.
“No-knock” warrants, which allow law enforcement officials to enter a home without declaring their presence, have been under fire in recent years, particularly after Louisville, Kentucky, police killed Breonna Taylor in her home in March 2020, sparking widespread protests against racial unfairness in policing.
In 2021, the Justice Department revised its policy to limit the use of no-knock warrants, requiring agents to obtain clearance from federal prosecutors and a supervising law enforcement agent.
Elizabeth A. Bailey, Cynthia B. Morgan, and Steven A. Medina, Adjessom’s mother’s attorneys, described his death as a “unquestionably foreseeable and preventable tragedy.”
Adjessom was one of four high-profile police shootings that generated a public outcry in Mobile, prompting former federal prosecutor Kenyen Brown to conduct an inquiry of the Mobile Police Department at the request of Mayor Sandy Stimpson. The investigation resulted in a more than 100-page partially redacted report published in May, which was based on interviews, a review of department policy, and body camera footage.
The investigation into Adjessom’s death revealed that the officer who shot him followed the city’s use of force policy since Adjessom was armed and constituted a threat. The report does not say whether Adjessom was withdrawing with his hands raised when he was shot.
However, the examination found that the decision to carry out the search warrant before daybreak did not sufficiently prioritize “the sanctity of life.”
The cops executing the raid had a “preconceived notion” that the residents of Adjessom’s home were dangerous, even though “there was no indication that any of the occupants had violent histories, and the target’s only felony was for marijuana,” according to the report.
The audit also noted a high rate of wrongdoing among city cops.
“There are numerous constitutional violations including the beating of a handcuffed suspect, the going into or the attempt to go into cell phones repeatedly, the denigration of suspects of deadly force during press conferences, the illegal and unconstitutional detentions without probable cause,” Mr. Brown said.
The report eventually did not suggest that the Department of Justice investigate the police department, citing local law enforcement’s willingness to undertake their changes. In March, the Mobile City Council rejected an ordinance that would have prohibited no-knock warrants.
Source: The family of a teenager fatally shot by police during a no-knock raid sues Alabama city
