Victim's Kin Denounce Shooting by Md. Deputy
By Christian Davenport
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, March 20, 2006; B01
A 22-year-old Oxon Hill man fatally shot by a Charles County sheriff's deputy Saturday morning had drawn a handgun and fired it while three deputies were trying to arrest him on a drunken driving charge, the sheriff's office said yesterday.
Friends and relatives of the suspect, Jonathon Lyles, offered a starkly different view. They questioned whether Lyles had a gun and said officers targeted him because he was a young African American man who had had previous run-ins with police.
Sharonda Lyles, 28, of La Plata said her brother would not pull a gun on an officer. "I don't know why the police sought out to kill my brother," she said.
The sheriff's office said Lyles was shot about 7:30 a.m. after Officer James Thompson spotted his car, which had backed over a curb and nearly hit an apartment building in the 600 block of Zekiah Run Road in La Plata.
Authorities said Lyles was slumped over the steering wheel of the vehicle, which was still running, and Thompson called for backup. When two other officers arrived, they interviewed Lyles and gave him field sobriety tests, which Lyles failed, officials said.
As the deputies tried to arrest him and place him in handcuffs, Lyles fought back, drew a semiautomatic handgun and fired a shot that missed the officers, officials said.
They said Officer Clint Walter, a four-year member of the sheriff's office, fired back, hitting Lyles in the chest with a single shot. Lyles was taken to Prince George's Hospital Center, where he was pronounced dead.
Sheriff's officials said they recovered the handgun Lyles had fired, and they denied that race played a part in the shooting.
"The man had a gun. He fired on a police officer, and the police officer returned fire," Capt. Joe Montminy said. Race "has nothing to do with it. . . . [The officers] were struggling for their lives."
The officer who initially spotted Lyles's car, Thompson, is African American, said Kristen Timko, a spokeswoman for the sheriff's office. Walter and Officer Jonathan Rager, who responded to assist in the arrest, are white, she said.
All three have been placed on routine administrative leave pending an investigation.
John Bowlin, 22, of Largo, who is Lyles's half-brother, said the authorities' version of events does not make sense. He wondered why the deputies did not immediately check whether Lyles had a gun, before the sobriety tests.
Timko said suspects may or may not be patted down for weapons, depending on the circumstances.
Lyles's friends and family members gathered yesterday at the scene of the shooting, where a shrine of candles and flowers had been created.
Sharonda Lyles said her brother had served time in prison for drug offenses and violating parole and had been pursuing a career in music since his release in November.
"He was trying to get his life together, and they kill him," said friend Michael Jones, 24, of La Plata.
Lyles worked at a mall music store selling CDs and T-shirts and was working on a rap album, his sister said. She said he was tall and plain-spoken. "He would do anything for you," she said. "He was all that. He was my little brother."
She and several of Lyles's friends, who had gone to the scene Saturday morning after word of the shooting spread, said Lyles was left lying on his back for about an hour without medical care before an ambulance came.
Timko disputed that, saying the officers immediately called for an ambulance, which arrived 3 1/2 minutes later. Once the paramedics assessed the situation, they called for a helicopter, which arrived at a nearby fire station at 7:59 a.m., about 30 minutes after the shooting, Timko said.
Staff researcher Don Pohlman contributed to this report.
:banghead:
