Cousin: Pregnant woman killed by police was not violent

POLICE CONDUCT

SEATTLE — A cousin of a mother who was shot and killed by Seattle police questioned Monday why officers didn’t use a nonlethal option during the encounter with the woman who he said had been struggling with mental health issues in the past year but wasn’t a violent person.

Kenny Isabell, pastor of The Way of Holiness Church of God in Seattle, said Charleena Lyles, 30, was pregnant and some of her four other children were inside the apartment during the Sunday shooting.

Lyles was depressed and “was going through some things in her life,” but she was attending his church regularly while making an effort to improve her life, Isabell said.

The two officers had gone to Lyles’ apartment after a call about a burglary. At some point, police said, the woman confronted them with a knife, and both officers fired their weapons.

“The officers immediately performed first aid,” but medics arrived and determined she had died, the Police Department said.

Lyles was black, and Isabell said he’s frustrated with police killing black people across the country.

“Do our lives really matter to them?” he asked. “What do you want from us? We try to comply and this is still happening.”

The names of the officers involved were not released.

Police released a roughly 4-minute audio recording of the officers initially discussing “a safety caution” about the address and a previous encounter with the woman before they reached her fourth-floor apartment in Seattle’s Sand Point neighborhood.

On the audio, the woman and the officers can be heard discussing the break-in in which a video game was taken.

Roughly 15 seconds later, officers can be heard saying, “Get back! Get back!” and “We need help” before gunfire erupts.

Seattle Municipal Court records show that Lyles was arrested June 5 and booked into King County Jail. She pleaded not guilty to two counts harassment and obstructing a police officer.

She was released from jail Wednesday on certain conditions, according to King County jail records.

Detectives from the use of force team will investigate the Sunday shooting.