RALEIGH, N.C. — Almost a week after the release of body camera footage showing a Raleigh police officer fatally shooting her husband, Rosa Jerez renewed her calls for justice in his death.
Activists and supporters joined Jerez Thursday in downtown Raleigh for a march and rally to protest the shooting of her husband, Daniel Turcios.
On Jan. 11, the 43-year-old immigrant from El Salvador died following a police shooting at the scene of a crash on Interstate 440. After the accident, Turcios carried a knife and did not drop it, despite numerous orders from police officers, according to police reports and videos. Over the span of a few minutes, one officer tased him, and a second officer shot him five times after police said he waved the knife at them.
Turcios' wife and two children, who were with in the accident, were nearby when the shooting occurred.
"I saw my husband die ... at the hands of the police," Jerez said Thursday in Spanish. "They didn't stop when my children and I asked them to stop killing him. I look around me and he's not there anymore and I miss him so much. Not just me, but my children miss him too. This has changed everything for us."
Before the crowd of about 100 people marched near the Capitol and surrounding streets, activists from several local civil rights groups and nonprofits spoke at the rally, organized by local Latino advocacy group El Pueblo.
"Police are supposed to be trained, where is their training?" Jerez said in Spanish. "Why didn't they give me a chance and tell me, 'Ma'am, control your husband. We're going to shoot him.' They didn't tell me anything ... they left me alone with my children."
The City of Raleigh released dashboard and body camera footage on Feb. 4 of the incident in which several officers arrived at the scene of a crash on the side of I-440. Turcios' car had flipped on its side, and his children were injured.
The videos from five officers depict a chaotic scene of the events leading up to the shooting, and police and Turcios' family have offered conflicting accounts of what happened.
Jerez and activists with Emancipate NC representing the family have previously said that Daniel's lack of English proficiency and disorientation from the crash affected his behavior. They said he was carrying "a small pocket knife."
After the crash, Turcios argued with his wife, who was near their children next to their wrecked car, the footage shows. After a while, Turcios pulled out a knife and attempted to walk away from police and his family with one of their children.
Jerez took the child from him as police yelled at him to drop the knife in English and one bystander told him to sit down in Spanish. As Turcios walked away, Sgt. W.B. Tapscott tased him from behind. Turcios fell to the ground, and officers attempted to detain him.
Turcios tried to swing the knife at officers, police said, prompting Officer A.A. Smith to fire at him twice. Footage shows Turcios trying to get to his feet, and Smith firing three more times at him, according to the videos.
Jerez has repeatedly said police could have handled the situation differently.
"If he carried a knife, why wasn't he shot in the hand, why didn't they shoot his feet?" Jerez said. "If he committed (a crime), he had to pay for it. That's what jail is there for. Why take his life? The father of a family?"
Jerez said an investigation should find the officers liable, and activists joined her in calling for Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman to file criminal charges against officers Smith and Tapscott. The officers are on administrative leave at the Raleigh Police Department.
While the Raleigh Police Department reviews whether officers violated policy, the State Bureau of Investigations is conducting a criminal investigation of the case. Both are standard procedure.
But activists said last month's shooting has renewed their distrust of law enforcement. They called for better training of officers to de-escalate volatile situations before they become fatal.
"We don't trust in Raleigh police, because a minor incident turns into a murder," said Julián Abreu, director of the Association of Dominicans in Raleigh. "We need to retrain police in using lethal force against us.
"This act should not be left without impunity, there should be a clear, precise and transparent investigation so that this does not keep affecting us," Abreu said. "Our community is more vulnerable to racial and hate crimes because our people are going to be afraid to call the police to report crimes."
Freeman said Feb. 2 that the State Bureau of Investigation had completed "all key interviews," but that she had not received the agency's findings.
"The life of my husband mattered," Jerez said. "Daniel didn't understand what was going on at the time. Daniel was not a threat ... I am now both mother and father. Why? Because of the police. It is unacceptable. I won't accept it."
