De’Von Bailey’s Family Says His Death Was Unjustified After Release Of Body Cam Footage

Bodycam footage from the Colorado Springs Police Department shows two police officers shooting 19-year-old De’Von Bailey three times in the back and once in the back of his arm as he ran away on August 23, and now, his family wants answers.

Bailey’s family is “devastated” after seeing the “wholly unjustified killing of their family member,” the family’s attorneys said in a statement. One of the family’s attorneys, Darold Killmer, said the footage made it a “crushingly difficult” day for the family.

“The video shows that there was no evidence to support that anybody was imminently at risk of being killed or harmed,” Killmer told CPR News in Colorado. “The video shows that he was doing everything within his power in the six or eight or 10 steps that he could take to get away to, in fact, get away…. He did not have a weapon in his hand and had not shown any weapon when he was shot in the back.”

In the graphic body cam footage, Bailey is seen with another individual, identified as his 19-year-old cousin, Lawrence Stoker. The teens are shown being questioned by one of the officers about a reported robbery; then both are ordered to put their hands up. The officer tells the two that the police are going to check and see if either of them have a weapon. Shortly after, a second officer can be seen approaching them from behind, and as he does, Bailey turns to run away.

The first officer begins to chase Bailey, shouting at him to keep his hands up before firing his gun. Eight gunshots can be heard in the video, fired from the weapons of Sgt. Alan Van’t Land and Officer Blake Evanson. The officers then handcuff Bailey as he laid bleeding on the ground. Police then cut his shorts to retrieve an object seen between his legs. 

In the bodycam footage, one officer can be heard asking Bailey if he goes by the nickname “Spazz,” the alleged name of the suspected robber. Bailey replies, “No, sir.”

Police said they responded on the scene of a robbery threat around 6:45 p.m. According to the coroner’s report, Bailey was pronounced dead by 7:20 p.m.

The coroner report states the bullets that hit Bailey perforated his heart, left lung and diaphragm, in addition to penetrating his spleen, triggering massive blood loss that led to his death. The teen’s family and friends rallied in front of the city’s police headquarters earlier this week, demanding an independent investigation into his death.