A Florida officer was arrested last week on manslaughter charges for the killing of an unarmed Black man he shot in the back of the head during a chase. Reports state the cop misidentified the deceased, a day after Christmas 2021, believing he was a suspect in an assault nearby.
On Wednesday, June 1, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement announced the arrest of Joshua Payne, a Titusville Police Department officer who fatally shot James Lowery, 40, on Sunday, Dec. 26, 2021. The 29-year-old cop erroneously believed Lowery fit the description of the suspect from an earlier attack on a woman during the holiday weekend.
Florida Today reports Payne responded to a 911 call, like the rest of his colleagues, about a violent assault that happened on South DeLeon Avenue.
Airline forcing South Africans to prove they speak Dutch-based language before being allowed to fly
Payne is said to have locked in on Lowery immediately. An investigation by the FDLE investigation and the State Attorney’s office reported he believed the man matched the description of the attacker. The officer chased Lowery after he ran away from the officer when he attempted to question him.
Authorities say Payne pulled his gun when Lowery threw something over a fence, and s Lowery climbed over it Payne tased him before shooting the unarmed man with one single round in the back of his head.
It was later determined Lowery was not the man who attacked the woman.
In May, FDLE filed the results of their investigation, which led to the manslaughter charge from the State Attorney’s Office.
Titusville police reported they could not carry out disciplinary action on Payne nor could they complete its investigation until FDLE’s investigation was finished. Now that the outside agency’s report is completed, the local law enforcement entity will complete its internal investigation and then release the footage, it has announced.
Todd Brown, a spokesperson for the Brevard-Seminole state attorney’s office, said in a statement obtained by Atlanta Black Star, the officer was charged with manslaughter including “recklessness or lack of care when handling a dangerous weapon. The statute can also be proven if the defendant used excessive force during self-defense or defense of another.”
