The family of Dijon Kizzee has released startling new information about how the 29-year-old died after being stopped for a minor bicycle violation in South Los Angeles in August, according to The Los Angeles Times. 

Multiple videos of the August 31 incident were posted on social media showing officers shooting Kizzee as he ran away and even as he fell to the ground.

“All I want is justice for my nephew. He didn’t have to be killed like that. He’s no animal. He’s human like we are,” the Associated Press reported Kizzee’s aunt Fletcher Fair saying.  

In a Tuesday afternoon press conference, lawyers for the family shared information from their own private autopsy, showing that Kizzee was shot 15 times and was still alive when he fell to the ground after the shots. As he bled to death, police handcuffed his limp body.


"What this shows is Dijon Kizzee was not holding a gun in his hand when 15 shots struck him. What this shows is he was alive and bleeding and writhing in pain when the officers continued to stay away," lawyer Carl Douglas said.

"When they got a shield first, and they had a shield walking up to the man while he was writhing in pain. All too often, law enforcement officers misinterpret writhing in pain as some sort of act of resistance. Until we change that warrior mentality to more of a guardian mentality, there’s going to be more (families) who have lost loved ones. There’s a scourge that patrols the county of Los Angeles,” he added. 

The Los Angeles Times noted that the two officers involved in the shooting are a supervisor and trainee. 

Last week, Sheriff Alex Villanueva held his own press conference where he defended the officers who shot Kizzee, telling the press the he was riding his bicycle on the wrong side of the street when officers tried to stop him. He dropped his bicycle and ran away when the officers approached him. Villanueva is the officer being sued by Vanessa Bryant for allegedly showing photos of the scene from the plane crash which killed Kobe and Gianna Bryant and six others to a girl he was trying to impress at a bar according to CBS News. 

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has faced criticism for repeatedly changing its story in the Kizzee case. At first, officers said Kizzee hit one of the officers and dropped a bundle of clothes that had a gun inside. When the gun hit the ground, officers open fire, and this version of events is backed up by multiple videos from the scene. 

But a day later, the officers changed their story, saying Kizzee "made a motion" toward the gun on the ground before police officers shot him to death. Last week the story changed again, with officers at the press conference saying Kizzee was had reached down, picked up the gun and aimed it at officers. This version of events does not correspond with the multiple videos from the scene.  

“He bends over, reaches, picks up the gun and is shot as he stands with the gun in hand. You will see that the deputy struggling with Kizzee does not arm himself until Kizzee bends down to pick up the gun he dropped,” Capt. Kent Wegener said last week, according to The Los Angeles Times.

Despite the police version of events, noted civil rights attorney Ben Crump said during the press conference that it was clear what actually happened. 

"He put his hands in the air. He put his hands in the air, dropped the bag, and they continued to shoot him, even though he posed no threat," Crump said, according to CBS News.

Video of Kizzee's shooting, which was shared widely on social media, sparked protests in the city and national outrage as yet another Black person was shot in the back. Kizzee was killed just days after Jacob Blake was also shot in the back by police in Wisconsin. He managed to survive his shooting but will be permanently paralyzed for life.

“It is with a heavy heart that I’m standing with yet another Black family who has lost a loved one because of the excessive brutal force of the people who are supposed to protect and serve them,” Crump said.

“We in Black America are dealing with the 1619 pandemic. This is an epidemic. The 1619 pandemic has claimed its latest victim,” Crump added. 

ben crumpDijon-KizzeeLos Angeles County Sheriff's DepartmentPolice shooting