A Los Angeles County deputy allegedly shot and killed a 27-year-old Black woman in front of her daughter after the woman called 911 to report domestic violence.
Niani Finlayson, a mother of two, called 911 on 4 December to report that her "boyfriend would not leave her alone and then screaming and sounds of a struggle could be heard", the sheriff's department said in a report.
When deputies arrived at the apartment in Lancaster, they heard people arguing and yelling.
Finlayson was inside the apartment with her nine-year-old daughter and had been injured allegedly by her former boyfriend, according to Bradley Gage, the family's attorney.
The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department (LASD) said Finlayson opened the door holding a "large kitchen knife". She was allegedly threatening her boyfriend when the deputy opened fire.
Finlayson fell to the floor and dropped the knife after being fatally struck by the gunfire, the authorities said.
She was rendered first aid until she was transported to a local hospital, where the woman was pronounced dead.
The family, however, disputed the LASD's account, arguing that Finlayson was a victim of domestic violence and was not threatening anyone when deputies shot her in the back.
“Niani was sitting on the ground when she was shot in the back,” Mr Gage told reporters on Thursday. “She was not engaging in any type of physically threatening behavior at all. In fact, she was the victim.”
The circumstances leading up to the shooting were unclear as the sheriff's department was yet to make the body camera footage public.
Finlayson's daughter at a press conference said, she handed her mother a knife before the deputies arrived because the man was "hurting my mother and me". "I didn't have [any] choice but to get something sharp," the girl was quoted by Los Angeles Times as saying.
The daughter said she wanted to see the deputy prosecuted. "She knows mom is definitely gone, she knows something is wrong,” she said about the need to inform her two-year-old sister.
Niani Finlayson was shot dead by a responding officer— (Family/Fox 11)
“It’s unfair to my little sister, it’s unfair to me.”
According to a claim filed by the lawyer, Finlayson was sitting on the ground inside her home when deputies upon arrival opened fire from outside. She was shot four times through a sliding glass door, the claim stated.
“She called for help and cried out in pain ... Her nine-year-old witnessed the entire murder and her mother’s suffering.”
The family is seeking $30m (£23.6m) in damages and legal fees.
LASD said it had not officially received the family’s claim, but would be releasing body-camera footage by next week.
The inspector general’s office would conduct a “robust review process … where every aspect of the shooting is thoroughly examined and evaluated to see if department policies and procedures were followed”, it said.
The LASD said it would evaluate the actions of the personnel within the application of policy, procedures and tactics.
