Family says there’s no justification for death of man after confrontation with Mobile police

By Brendan Kirby

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    MOBILE, Alabama (WALA) — The family of a Theodore man who died during a confrontation with police expressed anguish Thursday, and its attorney called for a Justice Department investigation and the release of body camera footage.

Jawan “Ja” Dallas, 36, died after police used a Taser gun against him on Sunday evening at the Planation Mobile Home Park on Carol Plantation Road in Theodore. His mother, Christine Dallas, said at a news conference that she cannot comprehend her loss.

“Ja would give his last dime to help any and everybody, and I just want justice for my son, because my son shouldn’t have left here this way,” she said. “If he was sick, or something, I could understand it, but for him to be tased to death beaten or whatever, is not right. It’s unimaginable. It hurts and I want something done about it.”

Police have declined to comment beyond the initial news release Tuesday, citing an ongoing investigation over exactly how Dallas died. A spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a renewed request for comment Thursday.

Harry Daniels, the attorney hired by the Dallas family, formally requested that the family be able to see the body camera footage. The request comes under a new law passed this year by the Legislature that gives relatives the ability to view footage. Although the law passed, it has not yet taken effect.

City Attorney Ricardo Woods cited the city’s longtime policy of withholding body cam footage related to an “active criminal investigation” and alluded to several ongoing probes.

“The incident involving Mr. Jawan Dallas is being independently investigated by the Mobile Police Department, the Mobile County District Attorney’s Office, and the U.S. Department of Justice through the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” he said in a prepared statement. “Once those investigations are completed, we are more than willing to engage Mr. Dallas’ family so that they can review all relevant body camera footage.”

According to the official account, police chased Dallas after he ran when officers responded to a burglary compliant. The have said an officer used the Taser a second time after the first attempt had no impact. Police contend Dallas then tried to grab the device.

The manager of the trailer park and other residents have disputed that version of event. The couple who initially called police described what they saw as a beating. Daniels said Dallas was almost 200 yards away from the trailer home that police were responding to and was not among three people who were running.

“He was tased, beaten, according to eyewitness accounts – tased multiple times,” he said. “And he died as a result. This is bad. We’re not gonna sugarcoat it. This is bad. The city of Mobile has gotta answer for this one.”

Dallas’ stepfather, Phil Williams, led a chant of “Justice of Ja.” He pointed to a large, framed photograph of his stepson and described him as a good man.

“Jawan didn’t deserve to die like this,” he said. “Innocent bystander. It’s time for a stop. You need to stop. Mobile police force, we need to stop it. We need to stop the killing. We need to stop it all.”

Daniels said this is more than a mere civil dispute. He called for the Justice Department to open a civil rights probe.

“This is the type of case when you need Washington, D.C., the federal government. to come in to see what really happened, because if you don’t, it’s gonna get swept under the rug,” he said.

The officers have been put on administrative leave. The Mobile County District Attorney’s Office told FOX10 News that grand juries review all deaths involving police.

The new law giving family members greater access to police body camera footage does not apply to the wider public. But Robert Clopton, present of the Mobile County chapter of the NAACP, noted that police always have had the discretion to make body cam video available to the public.

We do believe in transparency, and we also believe in accountability. … Why not show the video?,” he said.

Daniels said there is every reason to question the official account of what happened Sunday evening in Theodore.

“During these cases all over the country, I’ve seen police accounts, their rendition of facts, it was completely the opposite when the true facts came out,” he said. “So you got to forgive me if I don’t believe what the police say.”

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