Child’s family says cops shot wrong man
Girl’s mother: ‘He saved his niece’s life. He’s a hero.’
The family of the child who was stabbed repeatedly inside a St. Cloud apartment said police killed an innocent man as the St. Cloud Police Department released names and 911 calls from that incident.
Officer Devin Dunn shot and killed 21-year-old Jah’Sean Hodge following a struggle after he was seen “running erratically” and covered in blood following the 9-year-old girl’s stabbing at a Georgia Avenue apartment, the department said Thursday.
A second officer initially said to have been part of the shooting did not fire his weapon, the department said.
The girl had wounds on her neck and face and was taken to Arnold Palmer Hospital. Veronica Snyder said her daughter, whose first name is Jadalee, is expected to recover. She declined to provide the child’s last name, which has not been released by police.
Police Chief Pete Gauntlett told reporters Wednesday that Hodge was responsible for stabbing the child. But Snyder said Hodge, her adopted brother, was actually protecting the child from an unknown intruder.
“He saved his niece’s life. He’s a hero,” said Snyder, adding she was not allowed to speak in further detail.
A 911 caller who identified himself as Snyder’s boyfriend didn’t mention Hodge, but a separate caller told a dispatcher a man matching Hodge’s description tried to flag down their vehicle on Georgia Avenue while covered in blood.
“He was flopping his arms around. He was really injured, but he tried to stop us and he didn’t,” the caller said.
Gauntlett said two separate investigations had been opened, with his agency looking into the stabbing while the shooting is investigated by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Dunn, the officer who shot Hodge, was placed on administrative.
On Wednesday evening, neighbors gathered with balloons and prayers for Jadalee’s recovery and for police to find “my daughter’s real attacker,” Snyder said.
“We’re going to get justice,” she said.
Gauntlett called the details he released Wednesday “raw information,” but added that suggestions police killed the wrong person is “speculation on whoever’s part that is.”
“It’s our understanding preliminarily that the suspect in this case was responsible for the stabbing,” Gauntlett said. “We have yet to confirm all the details.”