The 16-year-old was injured, as well. “The round penetrated and exited his leg prior to impacting Quasheda Pierce’s leg,” Goodyear said.
On Nov. 13, deputies Jafet Santiago-Miranda and Carson Hendren were investigating a vehicle that they believed might have been stolen and that earlier had fled an attempted traffic stop, Sheriff Wayne Ivey said in a Facebook post days after the incident.
Dashcam video released by authorities showed the deputies in pursuit of Pierce and Angelo (AJ) Crooms, 16, driving a car. After the teens’ vehicle pulled into a driveway, officers converged with guns drawn. Santiago-Miranda began yelling: “Stop the vehicle!” and eventually fired multiple shots into the vehicle as it continued moving, killing the teens.
Ivey asserted that Santiago-Miranda, who has been placed on paid administrative leave along with the other officer as the investigation continues, was in “harm’s way” and “was forced to fire his service weapon in an attempt to stop the deadly threat of the car from crashing into him.”
Goodyear said the sheriff’s office would provide no further comment about the investigation, which is being conducted by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
The deaths of the teens have been decried by those in their Florida community and others across the country calling for police accountability. The teens’ families and attorneys one of whom is the prominent civil rights lawyer Benjamin Crump say the video shows that rather than fleeing Santiago-Miranda, the teens were trying not to hit him.
Video released by @BrevardSheriff clearly shows AJ Crooms & Sincere Pierce were terrified, trying to drive around cops who approached w/ guns drawn. Out of harm’s way, the deputy moved closer to get a better shot, firing w/ intent to kill, then kept firing as the car passed by. pic.twitter.com/9RrAmLKqyT
Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) November 18, 2020
“Video released by @BrevardSheriff clearly shows AJ Crooms & Sincere Pierce were terrified, trying to drive around cops who approached w/ guns drawn,” Crump said Nov. 18 on Twitter. “Out of harm’s way, the deputy moved closer to get a better shot, firing w/ intent to kill, then kept firing as the car passed by.”
Crump did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday. In a tweet Sunday, he said the shooting was a “robbing” of the teens’ young lives and called on others to demand justice.
Ivey said in the Facebook post that the investigation was “active and ongoing” and that it would conclude in the next “60-90 days.”
As for the shooting Saturday, investigative findings will be presented to the state attorney’s office, Goodyear said. He did not say when.
Quasheda Pierce, 39, was wounded by a shot from an “accidental discharge” of a concealed weapon during the burial service for her son, Sincere Pierce, 18, authorities said.
