Family Of Man Killed By Miami Police Seeks Answers
MIAMI (CBS4) - The mother of a Miami man who was gunned down by police last year wants answers from Miami's police chief.
On Tuesday Sheila McNeil planned to ask Chief Miguel Exposito why her son's car was pulled over and why police opened fire. Twenty eight year old Travis McNeil was killed, his 30-year old cousin injured, on February 10th as the pair left the Take 1 Lounge.
They were pulled over by an unmarked police car and shot by the officers inside. Police have not said what prompted the officers to open fire. McNeil said her son and nephew were not armed.
"I just want to know what happened to my son," said McNeil as she made her way through a throng of reporters waiting for her in the lobby of police headquarters.
Outside the courthouse before the meeting, Travis McNeil's cousin Dartania McNeil had a very definite opinion of Exposito and the job he's been doing.
"The chief needs to be gone," said Dartania McNeil. "With the shooting what happened, what happened. It was a routine traffic stop which resulted in him being killed. It doesn't make sense. I want to know why the car was stopped."
Travis McNeil's 10-year-old son, Travis, also attended the meeting with Exposito who offered his condolences and promised to get answers.
"When I heard that an officer shot my father, I lost all respect for the police, all of them, but since this happened, I gained their respect again," said McNeil's son.
But Sheila McNeil is still left with questions, "the meeting was more about us learning the policies and the way things are and that was some help, but it was not really a help right now in understanding what happened to my son." She also wants answers as to why "there are so many killings under their belt."
"One of the things he promised would be that they will keep in contact with the family and when they were able to answer questions they would let them know," said Delrish Moss, the Executive Assistant to the Chief.
The events which led up to the death of McNeil are being reviewed by the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office. Miami's embattled police chief is in the process of meeting privately with each of the families of seven men who were shot and killed by Miami police officers since early last year. All but two of the men were armed.
Not every family, however, has agreed to meet with Expositio. On Tuesday the mother of Decarlos Moore, who was shot by police last July, turned down the chief's invitation for a meeting.
