ELIZABETH CTIY, N.C. (AP) — The official autopsy of the unarmed Black man, who was fatally shot in April by Pasquotank County Sheriff’s Office deputies in North Carolina, says he died from a penetrating gunshot wound to the head.
Andrew Brown Jr. also was shot in the right arm and suffered lacerations. He had a low level of methamphetamine in his bloodstream. But the report says it likely did not play a role in Brown’s death.
The examination offers few new details about the shooting in Elizabeth City that continues to reverberate through the community. Residents continue to march in protest of Brown’s death, while one of the deputies, who fired his gun at Brown, handed in his resignation last week.
Brown's family and their attorneys have called his death an "execution."
Brown's family is represented by civil rights attorneys Ben Crump, Bakari Sellers, Harry Daniels and Chantel Cherry-Lassiter. They responded to the autopsy results, stating they didn't reveal anything unknown, but further proofed that deputies "executed Andrew Brown Jr. with a kill shot to the back of the head," according to a news release.
Speaking to the media last month, District Attorney Andrew Womble said Brown used his car as a deadly weapon as he tried to escape deputies who were serving a search warrant. The district attorney played clips from body camera footage that showed Brown trying to drive across an open lot before he was shot in the back of the head.
In the May press conference, the DA claimed the actions of the deputies at the scene were justified in killing Brown, and they wouldn't be charged criminally by his office.
On the heals of Womble's findings, Sheriff Tommy Wooten said none would be fired, and the three deputies who opened fire were to be "disciplined and retrained."
The family's attorneys stated the following in the release on the autopsy results: “While we are not surprised by the findings, we are both astounded and disgusted that the authorities in this case didn't even have the decency to share these results with the family - we were alerted of their release by the media. Every single opportunity DA Womble has had to do the right thing, he's taken the route of cowardice and deceit. Shame on him."
The attorneys also accuse law enforcement and the DA of hiding facts and trying to vilify Brown, the statement said.
"We will continue to demand release of video footage from the day Andrew was killed, and we won't stop fighting for transparency and accountability from law enforcement and the district attorney. From what we've seen thus far from both parties, we have a long way to go,” the release stated.
Spectrum News 1 has reached out to the Pasquotank County Sheriff's Office and the DA's office.
