A black woman in Los Angeles dialled 911, the emergency helpline number in the US, on December 4, to report domestic violence. The Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies responded to the distress call and arrived at her house, but a confrontation at her house resulted in the fatal killing of the black woman by the cop.
911 Distress Call
On the evening of December 4, 27-year-old Niani Finlayson dialled 911 to report a case of domestic violence in which she alleged that her boyfriend “would not leave her alone and then screaming and sounds of a struggle could be heard,” the LA County Sheriff’s department said.
The LA County Sheriff’s deputies arrived at the apartment in East Avenue, Lancaster and heard people arguing and yelling. The cops forced open the door and found the woman holding a large kitchen knife. The cops claimed that the woman told them that she would stab her boyfriend for pushing her nine-year-old daughter. She rushed inside the apartment where her boyfriend was sitting and grabbed him while holding the large eighth-inch blade knife. The confrontation resulted in the fatal shooting and the woman received multiple gunshot wounds in front of her daughter.
The woman was taken to a hospital, where she was declared dead. The homicide investigators responded to the incident and an investigation is underway.
Family Contest Police’s Claims
The woman dialled 911 and reported that she was inside with her nine-year-old daughter and had been injured by her ex-boyfriend and wanted him removed, the Guardian reported quoting the family’s attorney.
Sheriff’s deputy Ty Shelton allegedly killed a person under similar circumstances. In 2020, Ty Shelton, along with other deputies, responded to a 911 call reporting domestic violence on West Avenue. A confrontation between the deputy and the suspect, Michael Thomas, resulted in the fatal shooting of the man, who “refused to cooperate with the cops and tried to grab their gun while they were trying to handcuff him.”
“The police lied that my mom was threatening them,” Xaisha, her daughter, also a witness to her mother’s shooting, said at a press conference on Thursday alongside her grandparents, calling for Shelton to be prosecuted. “She was my best friend. She was always there for me. It’s unbelievable that she’s gone and she’s not coming back. I miss my mom,” the nine-year-old said.
The girl said her two-year-old sister continues to ask where their mother is and she doesn’t know how to respond.
Her family filed a legal claim against the county and sheriff’s department alleging wrongful death, assault and civil rights violations and have started a $30,000 fundraiser in her memory.
