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Families Demand Independent Investigations For Victims In Fatal Police Shootings

Esther Honig
/
WOSU
Family of Henry Green and Tyre King gather at the Columbus Urban League to demand and independent investigation in both cases.

The families of two young males fatally shot by Columbus police -- 23-year-old Henry Green and 13-year-old Tyre King -- came together on Tuesday to demand independent investigations of the fatal police involved shootings.

Dearrea King, the grandmother of Tyre King, the 13-year-old boy fatally shot by Columbus police, stood with the family members of Henry Green, a young man also fatally shot by Columbus police earlier this year.

King spoke for both families when she said city officials have not done enough.

"What we want, what we all want, is justice for both of our families. This is going on too long, it's going on unanswered and we're ignored," said King.

The lawyer representing the families, Sean Walton, says he hopes Columbus city leaders will follow the decision of cities like Tulsa and Charlotte, where recent shootings of black men by police officers have been opened to independent investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice.

"What do we have to lose? What do we have to hide?" asks Walton. "It's a good practice to have somebody who's not involved in the shooting to come and look at it."

Chief Kim Jacobs says Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien will be in charge of the investigation into the fatal police shooting of King.

Demands by protestors and the family of Henry Green for an independent investigation have so far been denied by O'Brien. 

Editors note: The broadcast and print versions of this story incorrectly reported the name of Dearrea King, the grandmother of Tyre King.