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Byron Williams case: Family suing city of Las Vegas, 4 officers 

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Approaching nearly two years since his death, the family of Byron Williams is suing the city of Las Vegas and four police officers as the responsible bodies for his death. The civil lawsuit has been filed on behalf of Marcia Wells and Teena Acree, the nieces of Williams.

“Our family continues to grieve this absolutely senseless death and we are still suffering from the continued lack of respect by police and the city. The officers who killed Byron Williams need to be held accountable so that no other family has to suffer like this again,” said Acree in a release.

Williams died back on Sept. 5, 2019 after local police stopped him for not having lights on his bicycle during his ride around dawn. Williams was a 50-year old Black man who was unarmed yet was handcuffed for the minor offense and later an officer’s knee was placed in his head, shoulders, and back while handcuffed. Despite Williams stating “I can’t breath” nearly 24 times, he went unconscious while in police custody and died an hour later.

The family of Williams is being represented by Ben Crump of Ben Crump Law, Antonio Romanucci, Bhavani Raveendran, and Ian Fallon of Romanucci & Blandin, LLC and local counsel Patrick McDonnell of Michaelson & Associates.

The team of attorneys has stated a major reason Williams’s story has not been shared is that that the body camera footage did not become public until a Police Fatality Public Fact-Finding Review in the county took place in 2020.

“Byron Williams was unarmed and hadn’t done a single thing wrong when police decided to stop him, then chase him, and literally press the life out of him. How many times, America, do we need to see the violation of the civil rights of Black people by police who use unnecessary force and act with impunity? What happened in Las Vegas that night was not an isolated incident and shows the urgent need for police reform across this country,” stated Crump.
The lawsuit names Las Vegas Metro Police officers Patrick Campbell, Benjamin Vasquez, Alexander Gonzalez, and Rocky Roman individually and as agents of the City of Las Vegas for their roles in Williams’ death.
At the time of this article, no criminal charges have been filed. Initially, two officers were placed on administrative leave, however, since then have returned to the line of duty.
Rene' Kennedy
Rene' Kennedyhttps://theballout.com
Managing Editor of The Ball Out.

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