Family decries fatal police shooting
The cousin of a 27-year-old motorist fatally shot by a D.C. police sergeant in 2021 said at a news conference Wednesday that prosecutors charging the officer with second-degree murder in the incident is only a first step in the family’s bid for justice.
Lashunna Gilmore, whose cousin, An’twan Gilmore, was shot and killed by police, appeared at the news conference with four of An’twan’s other relatives and friends, addressing the charges publicly for the first time. She decried the shooting and the sergeant, 41-year-old Enis Jevric, who is now charged in connection with it.
“An indictment is what he deserves, but a conviction is what our family deserves,” Lashunna Gilmore said. “We shouldn’t have to be here. We never thought that this could be us.”
Jevric’s attorney could not be reached for comment. The sergeant, who has been on the force for about 15 years, pleaded not guilty Tuesday at his arraignment in U.S. District Court in Washington. He was released, but placed in the court system’s High Intensity Supervision Program, with a nightly curfew and GPS monitoring. Police said Jevric is on administrative leave with pay.
An’twan Gilmore was fatally shot on Aug. 25, 2021, at New York and Florida Avenues NE. In footage from body-warn cameras, an officer can be seen tapping on the window of a BMW in which authorities said the 27-year-old had fallen asleep at a traffic light. He awoke and began to drive away, and Jevric fired at least 10 rounds at the car, authorities said.
The BMW crashed into a tree and Gilmore was found fatally wounded in the driver’s seat. D.C. Police Chief Robert J. Contee III said at the time that officers had seen An’twan Gilmore with a handgun, which “was still in the right side of his waistband area” after the crash. The chief said the crash appeared to violate D.C. police department policies against shooting at moving vehicles. The family’s attorney, Brian Mcdaniel, declined to say where An’twan Gilmore was going that night.
Lashunna Gilmore said that seeing the body-warn camera footage caused “excruciating” pain for her and the family, and the indictment renewed that hurt. An’twan Gilmore’s sister, Almoustah Gilmore, has filed a wrongfuldeath lawsuit against Jevric and the city.
“He took a friend, a brother, an uncle, a cousin and a great man,” Lashunna Gilmore said. “We shouldn’t have to bury a loved one from gun violence. An’twan was a beautiful person and sometimes my therapist. He could change your whole energy just by being around him. He was like glue to our family.”
Gilmore then addressed Jevric directly.
“I hope that you learn to be a better person and less hottempered,” Gilmore said. “I hope that these thoughts of August 25th, 2021, when you took An’twan away from us, I hope that they stay with you for the rest of your life. That day has changed our life forever and I’m certain and hopeful that it will change yours forever when we get a conviction.”