'We're going to get justice': Andrew Brown Jr.'s family speaks exclusively with ABC11 on deadly Elizabeth City shooting
ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. (WTVD) -- ABC11's Tim Pulliam spoke exclusively with three generations of women in Andrew Brown's family: His paternal grandmother, aunt and first cousin.
In an emotional, raw interview, they described him as a family man and a natural comedian.
The family said it doesn't matter that deputies were serving Brown with drug warrants, he still deserved due process in court.
"I was immediately sad and honestly a little bit angry," said Jadine Hampton, first cousin to Andrew Brown. "I was just thinking, 'We should not be here. We should not be here looking at him in this casket.' For what?"
"I get into a panic mode when I think what he must have been processing and thinking and fearing," said Lillie Brown Clark, Andrew Brown's aunt. "I would imagine his first thought was his children because that's his heart. That would have been his first and his last thought unfortunately."
The shooting happened on April 21, nearly two weeks ago, while seven Pasquotank County deputies were serving Brown with drug-related search and arrest warrants.
"I day dream about it. I get to daydreaming about it, and I feel like I just want float up there in the sky, and just up there floating around - nobody up there but me - not worrying about nothing," said Lydia Pearl Brown, Andrew's grandmother. "Because at 92 years old - it's hard to put up with something like this."
The family said Brown was not armed.
They believe deputies should not have used that much force and acknowledged that although Brown had a record, deputies knew from past experiences with him that he wasn't violent.
Three deputies remain on paid leave - as the SBI and FBI investigates. They are: Investigator Daniel Meads, Deputy Sheriff II Robert Morgan and Corporal Aaron Lewellyn.
Exclusive Interview: Family speaks about the killing of Andrew Brown Jr.
"The police are there to serve and protect - they are not to go in execution style. And we've seen many cases were police have been beat up, they have had guns taken from them and the people still survive," said Hampton.
The family questions the assertion from district attorney Andrew Womble that Brown's vehicle made contact with deputies before they shot him, the fifth and final shot to back of the head, according to an independent autopsy.
"He gone. All I could say was no..no..no!" said Brown.
"If he made contact, that's if, let him drive away," said Clark. "You're still shooting him from the back. A mouth can say anything. We want to see the tapes."
"We're going to get justice," said Hampton. "Because to me, there's no resting until that's done."
When asked what justice looks like for them, they said if or when charges are brought against the officers, they want them to be convicted and go to jail for life.
